Church Midwing JC 1

Design and development

The Church Midwing was designed to be an affordable homebuilt aircraft. Church marketed kits for $190.

The open cockpit midwing aircraft featured windows in the wings for visibility downward.

Operational history

Built to be a pylon racer, a Church Midwing placed third in the 1930 National Air Races. The Church used many parts from the Heath Parasol design. In 1931 the prototype was modified with an installation of a 38 hp inline air-cooled Church designed engine and a cowling modification to accommodate the cylinders protruding upward in the pilot's line of sight. A 1931 advertisement placed by Heath in Popular Mechanics extolled the virtues of its first-place finish with its parasol configuration, compared to the Church's midwing planform.

Variants

RW4 RagWing Midwing Sport Replica

An ultralight replica of the JC-1, produced by RagWing Aircraft Designs.

Church Racer

Essentially a Midwing fitted with a model J-3 46hp Church Marathon engine.

Aircraft on Display

EAA AirVenture Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin - 1 A Basket case 5 year restoration completed in 1971 by Gene Chase, outfitted with a Heath-Henderson B-4 engine.

Specifications (Church Midwing JC-1)

Data from EAA

General characteristics

Length: 16 ft 9 in (5.11 m)

Wingspan: 26 ft 8 in (8.13 m)

Wing area: 110 sq ft (10 m²)

Empty weight: 367 lb (166 kg)

Gross weight: 584 lb (265 kg)

Fuel capacity: 4.5 Gal (17 litres)

Powerplant: 1 × Heath-Henderson B-4 Inline 4 cylnder, 27 hp (20 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 78 kn; 145 km/h (90 mph)

Cruise speed: 61 kn; 113 km/h (70 mph)

Stall speed: 24 kn; 45 km/h (28 mph)