L-15 Scout: Boeing's Smallest Airplane - Paperback

by Mal Holcomb (Author)

As World War II drew to a close, Boeing, realizing that its huge Wichita factory would be out of work at war's end, began working on a light personal airplane.

It nabbed the contract for what became the L-15 Scout despite the plane's third-place finish in a 1946 U.S. military liaison aircraft competition. Although the aircraft ultimately was not mass produced, Boeing's engineers created proposals for both military and civilian follow-ups.

This book tells for the first time the full story of the L-15--the competition and the competitors, the evolution of Boeing's entry into the prototype XL-15, the plane's specifications, the rivalry between the U.S. Army and Air Force, and the government's decision to adopt a different plane instead.

Author Biography

Mal Holcomb is retired from a 45-year engineering career in the general aviation industry specializing in aerodynamics, aircraft designs, and test flights and has written many technical papers as well as historical journal and magazine articles. He lives in Mountain Home, Arkansas.