Arizona Aviation Photographers (AzAP)

Aviation Locations and Aircraft Types => Civil Aviation => Topic started by: Mike Margolis on August 18, 2015, 02:12:54 AM

Title: Call Aircraft Company
Post by: Mike Margolis on August 18, 2015, 02:12:54 AM
I love purpose built airplanes! This is a 1966 Intermountain CallAir A-9 that was originally built for agricultural flying and later converted for glider towing.
This pilot is a United pilot when not towing gliders. He offered me a tow to 6,000' so I took it.

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From Wiki:
Following the purchase of Call Aircraft Company, who had built the CallAir Model A series of light utility and agricultural aircraft, by Intermountain Manufacturing Company (IMCO) in 1962,
IMCO produced a new agricultural derivative of the Callair, the CallAir A-9. Production of the new aircraft started in 1963.

Like the earlier CallAir aircraft, the A-9 is a single-engined monoplane with a braced low wing. It is of mixed construction, with a fabric-covered steel-tube fuselage structure and a wood-and-fabric wing.
The pilot sits behind the chemical hopper, and the cockpit is enclosed by two removable, bottom-hinged doors that form the left and right side windows. The aircraft is powered by a single Lycoming
O-540 flat-six piston engine.[1][2] Later, some A-9s have been adapted for glider towing operations.

IMCO was in turn purchased by Rockwell International in 1966, which built the plane under its Aero Commander division before shifting production to Mexico in 1971, under a joint venture there
called AAMSA. Production continued until 1984.
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(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/677/20489393339_0139112cb7_h.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/xdzuNp)Warner Springs Skysailing Tow Plane Intermountain Callair-0386 (https://flic.kr/p/xdzuNp) by Mike Margolis (https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikemargolisphotography/), on Flickr
Title: Re: Call Aircraft Company
Post by: Jeff D. Welker on August 18, 2015, 07:43:43 AM
Looks like it was definitely designed by a farmer and not an aeronautical engineer. I love these funky-looking airframes and appreciate your sharing Mike.