Church (James) JC-1 Midwing Racer
1928 Single-engine single-seat taildragger midwing monoplane racer, U.S.A.

Archive Photos ¹

1928 Church Midwing JC-1 (NX9167) at the c.2003 at the EAA AirVenture Museum, Oshkosh, WI (Photos by John Shupek)

Overview ²

• Church Midwing JC-1
• Role: Racing aircraft
• National origin: United States of America
• Manufacturer: Church Airplane & Mfg Co
• Designer: James Church
• First flight: 1928
• Program cost: $890 in 1928
• Developed from: Heath Parasol

The Church Midwing JC-1, a.k.a. Church Mid-Wing Sport, is a midwing racing aircraft designed by James Church using the fuselage of a Heath aircraft.

Design and Development ²

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 ²

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 ²

• 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 46 hp Church Marathon engine.

Specifications (Church Midwing JC-1) ²

General Characteristics

• Length: 16 ft 9 in (5.11 m)
• Wingspan: 26 ft 8 in (8.13 m)
• Wing area: 110 ft² (10 m²)
• Empty weight: 367 lb (166 kg)
• Gross weight: 584 lb (265 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 4.5 Gal (17 L)
• Powerplant: 1 × Heath-Henderson B-4 Inline 4 cylinder, 27 hp (20 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 78 kn (90 mph, 140 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 61 kn (70 mph, 110 km/h)
• Stall speed: 24 kn (28 mph, 45 km/h)

References

1. Shupek, John. The Skytamer Photo Archive, photos by John Shupek, (Skytamer.com)
2. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Church Midwing JC-1