MONOCOUPE 90A

1930’42/1947’50

Plane & Pilot

Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: Omar Filipović

Key Takeaways:

The Monocoupe Model 90A was a two-seat cabin monoplane introduced in 1930, produced until 1942, and then resumed production after a five-year lapse utilizing the same basic airframe.
It featured a welded steel tube fuselage, wooden wings (all surfaces fabric-covered except aluminum leading edges), side-by-side seating, and wing-root fuel tanks for gravity feed.
Early models used various engines (e.g., Lambert, Franklin, Warner), while later versions adopted 115-hp or 125-hp Lycoming engines, enabling a top speed of 156 mph, a cruise of 135 mph, and a range of 600 miles.

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Introduced by the Monocoupe Corporation in 1930, the Model 90A two-seat cabin monoplane was progressively improved until production was suspended in 1942. These early Monocoupes were powered by various engines, including the 90-hp Lambert, the 90-hp Franklin, and the Warner 125-hp Scarab or 145-hp Super Scarab. The main tanks were mounted in the wing roots, providing gravity feed to the engine. Seating was for two in side-by-side fashion with access by means of doors on either side. The fuselage was of welded steel tube construction, while the wings were of wood. All surfaces, save the aluminum leading wing edges, were fabric covered. After a five year lapse in production, the Monocoupe was again built utilizing the same basic airframe but changing to either the 125- or 115-hp, Lycoming horizontally opposed air-cooled engine.