Historical Question : Commercial Rights to Cruisair ?

blimpy

blimpy

New member
Reading last night in " Bellanca's Golden Age" ( yeah I know full of mistakes, freely plagarised everywhere) I read about Bellanca giving the Smithsonian his papers.. " but he retained the commercial rights to ..."

F'rinstance.. Downer et all acquired the 14-19 derivitives... but not the crusair or earlier designs.

I admit I may have August and GM mixed up ...in this.

Book isn't in front of me.. but I'm just wondering if whoever now has control of the Bellanca Estate, might actually still own the 'Commerical Rights" ( to production ) to most of the Bellanca Designs, even if the engineering drawings, archives, and etc are being hoarded by the Smithsonian ??

Point being.. if so, there might be a way to break the strangle hold they have on the information we need to maintain our aircraft.. maybe even a way around getting approved parts made ?

they may hold the information... but do they hold the legal ownership of the Type Certificates ?

What are the facts ?

I can see no reason for them to force orphan status on us.. .but reason and government run agencies.. even museums
are often at odds.

Maybe I am starting from a dubious premise... and rushing headlong toward the inevitable dubious and wishful conclusion.

Dan.. you're the historical scholar.. what's the dope ?
 
I believe that Alexandria Aircraft my have some blueprints for at least part of the 14-13 series but they do not hold the type certificate. I go there often and sometimes Carroll has to dig out prints to find exactly what bolt I may need, etc. There are lots of similarities between the 14-13 s and the early 14-19 series so he may be using the 14-19 prints. We need to be aware that since they don't have the type certificate for our 14-13s, they are quite careful to not "step over the line."
Gary
 
Thanks gary.. yeah I know they don't.

the "golden age of bellanca" book.. says ( rightly or wrongly) that August Bellanca retained the "Commercial Rights" to the Cruisair.

I don't know if he is still living... or the accuracy of this statement.. but if true.. it would certainly be useful, as it is the only way to wrest control of the engineering documents and right to re-produce certified parts... from the ditsy smithosonian...
which has it's own mandate and interests - that cant/don't/won't support ours. :mrgreen:
 
Augie passed away several years ago, still claiming commercial rights to the 14-13 series; he was even contemplating its manufacture in Mexico. I have never seen documentation attesting to those rights, and as far as that comeback, to my knowledge, it never went further than our private conversations.

The Type Certificate is still listed under the Bellanca family and I had asked Augie to donate the TC to the Club as a solution to his legal vulnerability (he was sued a few times, costing quite a bit of legal money); I was willing to give him my time in return. At that point I had already spent a great number of hours creating his AviaBellanca website (since torn down at his request), but again, no response. At this time, it seems a moot point. The Smithsonian will not cooperate or even bend, and the Bellanca family does not know much about the 14-13, although they will sell you the AviaBellanca Skyrocket II and its TC; that airplane has not flown in over 10 years.

You have a right to view/copy the Smithsonian's archives with the proviso that it be used only for historical research. They think this will prevent legal actions. I hope that never gets tested, as we'll probably lose access to those documents under any terms.

Just my thoughts.
 
I concur with Robert. I'm sure the Bellanca family still owns the TC. I don't think there's any value in it....perhaps some future liability. NASM has what drawings August gave them years ago and they are available to the public. For instance I received the installation drawing for the 6A4-150 engine in the 14-13 because access to this drawing was required for the installation of this engine in the 14-12F3 airframe.
Dan
 
Dan and Robert.

Thanks for your very interesting comments. I was wondering if August were still alive.. so that answers that.
I think owning the Type Certificate IS valuable.

Look what Univair has done buying them up ( bad example..$o $orry :mrgreen: ).

But that is the point.. the TC holder can make parts ! That's what Alexandria does.. no ?
And I think they can authorize procedures with service bulletins, which maybe might make somethings
we need or want to do easier. or maybe I'm so ignorant about how things work, that I can believe anything easily.

yeah.. must be that.

Who has to die over at Smithsonian ( of natural causes) before things get any better ?

How long did it take to get your drawings, Dan ?
:roll:
 
I'm afraid that there are not enough of us to make it worthwhile for any one to go to the expense of acquiring the TC and/or producing parts. That leaves us with salvaging and owner produced parts.
Robert, doesn't Cy (or the Club) have a bunch of Cruisair drawings that he was going to redo?
LL
 
sure seems like there are more and more going off the books every year.
wish there were some way to stem the tide.

seems like a vicious cycle ... and a sad end to such a practical airplane.

but maybe GA is set to spin in no matter what we do.



this airplane is simpler than a 172...
no vacuum pump, strut, electric flaps.

I'm getting mechanics telling me they want as much to annual a C-150.

and yet our values are going where ?
Why ?
 
OK, I stopped at Bellanca today (Alexandria Aircraft) and asked Carroll if they had any blue prints for any of the 1413 series aircraft. He said that they did not have any 1413 prints, however they have all of the prints for the early 1419 birds and they are quite close in many respects.
Gary
 
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