The year is 1930 / Ford Model A Tudor $500 and Heath Parasol airplane for $975

[intakexhaust]

The Ford story and $500 for a shining new coupe was quite something but a new airplane for only double that?

Available as kit but $975 was the bill for ready to fly.

The Heath Story

Listed below are the general specifications of the Parasol (1930 model) equipped with the Heath B-4 engine:

Span 25 ft.
Chord 4 ft. 6in.
Angle of incidence 4 degrees
Wing area 1 1 0 sq. ft.
Aileron area 10 sq. ft.
Elevator area 5.2 sq.ft.
Stabilizer area 5.5 sq.ft.
Rudder area 3.8 sq. ft.
Length overall 17 ft.
Height overall 6 ft.
Weight, empty 285 lbs.
Rate of Climb (first minute) 600 ft.
Useful load 300 lbs.
Gas capacity 5 gals.
Oil capacity 6 qts.
High speed 85 mph
Landing speed 28 mph
Cruising radius 200 miles

[kach22i]

The Parasol airplane was the last balsa and tissue paper models I built as teenager.

It was a small scale model, but I grew to really appreciate it's simplistic lines and balance purpose.

Go for it.

[wildthing]

And in the first 10 months of 1930, 744 banks failed. - Wikipedia article on the Great Depression.

If you had a regular job, you probably made a thousand bucks to 1500 bucks a year...

[unclebilly]

Thank you for this. The story of Jim Foreman's first plane is a ready great read.

[KNS]

The biggest reasons airplanes cost so much these days compared to the 20s and 30s is certification and the cost of law suits (built into the price of the plane). Those things really weren't a factor back then.

Of course these days you also have much more advanced technology and materials versus wood and fabric.

[dad911]

I built alot of Heathkits... Ham & Test Equipment, Computers..... but never a plane!