14 Dec 06
Chrysler's Plymouth division made aviation history - unwittingly - by providing an engine for a radical prototype plane. Sven Swanson, an aircraft designer from Nebraska's Arrow Airplane Company (no relation to Arrow cars, later Pierce-Arrow) wanted to take advantage of government grants to stimulate the US aeronautical industry during the economic depression of the 1930s. Allpar.com tells of how the Department of Commerce announced a contest in 1933 for the submission of a '$700 airplane' design cheap to build, run and maintain, suitable for mass production, and capable of 110mph (the $700 requirement was later dropped). Swanson, who had teamed up with fellow plane-builder Ole Fahlin, won the first round, and was contracted to build a working prototype. The SF-2, constructed with at least some help from the Nicolas-Beazley company, featured the six-cylinder engine from a 1935 Plymouth saloon, which had already been run-in in the car; the plane was thus nicknamed the Plymocoupe. Its power output was between 80 and 85bhp, and it had various modifications including a marine-style magneto, lighter intake and exhaust manifolds, an updraught carburettor and reduction gearing in place of a clutch and flywheel; it was mounted backwards in the plane's frame.
The SF-2 even reflected the Plymouth car's design in its own styling: it carried the Plymouth sailing ship grille badge and bonnet ornaments, and had six porthole windows, like the five on the car. Chrysler was understandably interested in the plane, and in July 1935 it was flown to Detroit for inspection by Chrysler engineers. The engine was officially certified for aircraft use, suggesting that Chrysler was serious about entering into the world of aero engine supply. The company drew up a deal with Nicholas-Beazley based around batches of 100 engines (at $130 each) and even instrument gauges, as used in the 1935 Plymouth saloon ($8.40 a set).
But Swanson-Fahlin failed to win the government prize, and Chrysler lost interest in the Plymocoupe. That wasn't quite the end of the story, though: after the sudden death of Swanson in 1936, Fahlin was approached by pilot Russell Owen, looking for a plane to use for a publicity run between Anchorage, Alaska, and Seattle, Washington. Owen was funded by businessmen aiming to set up a mail route, and he wanted to be the first to fly this route non-stop. The media picked up on the story of the Flying Automobile or Se-As-Ka, and the Plymocoupe was seen off from Anchorage in a flurry of parties, dances and photo calls, carrying a number of special souvenir postcards - the first mail to be delivered on that route. But after just five hours in the air, fog forced Owen to return to Anchorage, and he was then grounded for nearly three months as his licence was said to have been invalid. On his second attempt, a fluttering oil gauge prompted him to make an emergency landing at Juneau, Alaska; he missed the runway, damaged the plane and had his pilot's licence finally revoked. The Plymocoupe was left in a hangar for three years, before being destroyed in an accidental fire.
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