Arrow Model F
The Arrow Model F or the Arrow Sport V-8 was a two-seat low-wing braced monoplane aircraft built in the United States between 1934 and 1938. It was built originally to a request by the US Bureau of Air Commerce to investigate the feasibility of using automobile engines to power aircraft. Accordingly, the Model F was fitted with a modified Ford V8 engine. Like the Arrow Sport before it, the Model F seated its pilot and passenger side-by-side in an open cockpit and was marketed for $1500.
Development
The Arrow Sport F was specifically built to accommodate the low-cost, yet heavy Arrow F V-8 engine, an aircraft modification of the Ford V-8. The engine was designed by Ford Engineer David E. Anderson with an aluminum oil pan, aluminum cylinders, and a 2:1 gear reduction to drive the prop at reasonable rpm ranges. The engine weighed 402 lbs for 85 hp vrs 182 lbs for an equivalent Continental aircraft engine.Variants
- Arrow Sport F Master – Open cockpit
- Arrow Sport F Coupe – Closed cockpit variant
- Arrow Sport F De Lux Coupe – Closed cockpit with advanced instruments.
- Arrow Sport M - Open cockpit with a Menasco Pirate engine.
Surviving aircraft
- A preserved Sport F Master is on display at San Francisco International Airport's Terminal 3.
- A disassembled Sport F is being rebuilt by the Dakota Territory Air Museum in North Dakota.
- A Sport M is private ownership.
- Two Sport F's preserved at the Western [Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum] in Oregon.
- A Sport F in private ownership in California.
- A 1936 Sport Model F preserved at the Mid Atlantic Air Museum at Reading Regional Airport in Reading, Pennsylvania.
- A disassembled Sport F is being rebuilt by The Nebraska Chapter of the Antique Airplane Association in Hastings Nebraska