Luscombe 8


The Luscombe 8 is a series of high-wing, side-by-side-seating monoplanes with conventional landing gear, designed in 1937 and built by Luscombe Aircraft.

Development

Luscombe Aircraft closed in 1949, with its assets purchased by Temco Aircraft, also Dallas-based. Temco built about 50 Silvaires before selling the rights to the Silvaire Aircraft Corporation in 1955.
When TEMCO chose to discontinue production, the Luscombe tooling, parts and other assets were purchased by Otis Massey. Massey had been a Luscombe dealer since the 1930s. His new venture opened in Fort Collins, Colorado, as Silvaire Aircraft and Uranium Corp. From 1956 to 1961, this firm produced 80 aircraft. The make and model for all 80 was Silvaire 8-F, with "Luscombe" shown in quotation marks in company literature. Only one aircraft, N9900C, serial number S-1, was built in 1956. N9900C first flew on September 10, 1956 and was sold, according to the FAA aircraft database, to a dealer, Boggs Flying Brokers, in California the following spring. Six aircraft were built in 1957. Serial numbers S-2 and S-3 were shipped via C-46 aircraft to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first aircraft was constructed from spares or MRB parts that were serviceable, but remaining from TEMCO's prior production. TEMCO supplied enough inventory for the completion of approximately four aircraft.

Famous owners

of BBC's Top Gear wrote in Top Gear Magazine in 2007 about his 1946 model Luscombe 8A ownership experience. After a temporary loss of power in flight of the meticulously maintained aircraft he concluded in a tongue-in-cheek manner, "All this old stuff is rubbish. None of it works properly. After almost a whole day of fart-arsing around with machinery, I was forced to conclude that the only dependable things in my life are an Italian car and a British motorcycle."

Variants

;Model 8
;Model 8A Luscombe Master
;UC-90A
;Model 8B Luscombe Trainer
;Model 8C Silvaire Deluxe
;Model 8D Silvaire Deluxe Trainer
;Model 8E Silvaire Deluxe
;Model 8F
;Model T8F Luscombe Observer
;Model 8G
;Luscombe LSA-8
;Dair 100 testbed

Specifications (Silvaire 8-F)

Sub-Model T8F has tandem seating but is generally similar in dimension, Sprayer version approved for Restricted category operations can have higher Gross Weight with operational limits.