below the centerline. The tricycle undercarriage, unusual at the time, had short main legs made possible by the combination of lower fuselage depth and hence lower wing position, together with the offset propeller. These legs were joined to the front wing spar close to the fuselage, cross braced and splayed outwards to increase the track. The front leg, mounted just behind the engine, was much longer; all three legs were faired and carried wheels enclosed in spats. Control of the Aircar was also unusual. A column-mounted wheel moved the ailerons and fore and aft motion of the column operated the elevators as normal. Turns were made by banking. The trim tab on the fin compensated for propeller torque and was directly linked to the throttle. Instead of a rudder bar, a pedal operated the flaps used for takeoff and landing. The wheel brakes were also foot operated and the nosewheel was steered with the control column wheel. At takeoff, the flaps were initially retracted and the aircraft accelerated; at the appropriate speed the flaps were lowered and the Aircar left the ground. With elevators up this "zoom" was rapid but ended in level flight, whilst with them down the zoom was gentler and turned into a steady climb. Landings were made from a low speed approach with flaps extended; throttled back, the Aircar adopted a horizontal attitude, the elevator only controlling the sink rate. Development The first flight of the Aircar was in early 1937 and a second was built soon afterwards. Tests led to changes in the engine cowling, to experiments with a four-bladed propeller produced by mounting a pair of two-bladed ones at right angles on the same shaft, and to a serious revision of the fin. Its previously angular leading edge was replaced with a more curved and snub shape above the fuselage, though mostly retaining the vertical trailing edge. The line of lower fuselage was straightened so that the lower part of the fin was integrated into it. These trials showed that with the Niagara II engine the Aircar was underpowered, so the second aircraft was re-engined with the more powerful, but similar diameter, Niagara V. Operational history A sales tour followed: by 1938 the well known pilot Frank Hawks had been appointed Vice-President and Sales Manager of Gwinn Aircar Company Inc. and he and Nancy Love (née Harkness) flew the Aircar at a variety of