B.A.C. Drone
DURING THE EARLY 1930's the British Aircraft Corp. built a series of tandem two-place gliders designated as the B.A.C. VII. In 1932 one of these aircraft was fitted with landing gear and with a motorcycle engine mounted on a pylon above the wing. Since the weight of the additional equipment equalled the weight of the second occupant, it was redesigned into a single-seater and named the Planette. It proved both docile and maneuverable; and had a speed range of 15 to 40 mph. Due to its success, three more were constructed. In 1933 the company was taken over by the Australian sailplane pilot, Robert Kronfeld; who fitted remaining No. 2 prototype with a streamlined pylon and renamed it the Drone.
The T-Craft
RECENTLY described as the "cheapest, smallest and most outdated production airplane in the country today", the Taylorcraft, more often called T-Craft, is again rolling off the assembly line. Through the efforts of a man named Charlie Feris, that classic little puddlejumper of the 1930's and 1940's has been back in production for over three years now in a small factory just a few miles from the original Taylorcraft plant in Alliance, Ohio. (Editor's Note: This article was prepared in 1977.) Founded in 1931 by C. G. Taylor and a man named Piper, the Taylor Aircraft Company's first airplane was called the Cub. Later, in 1935, Taylor and Piper split up and Piper took the Cub with him. Taylor reorganized and came out with the side-by-side version of the Cub and named it the Taylorcraft Model A. By 1941 it had evolved into the familiar T-Craft shape and was called the B12.
