The Brown Aircraft Co was an American aircraft manufacturer of the 1930s and 1940s.

During 1926 Lawrence W. Brown established a small aircraft modification and design operation at Clover Field Santa Monica, California. His initial project was to modify a Thomas-Morse S-4 as a parasol monoplane with a 90 h.p. Curtiss OX-5 engine. In 1929 he built a similar two-seat aircraft powered by a 260 h.p. Menasco-Salmson engine.^[1]

In 1931, Brown moved to Montebello, California and established the Brown Aircraft Co.. From 1933 he built a series of small low-wing racing monoplanes and these competed in the major air racing meetings held in the United States. Postwar he built the L-20 Brownie, a high-wing monoplane intended for operation by private pilots, but on Brown's death on 25 December 1945, the firm's activities ceased.^[1] The sole surviving original aircraft built by the firm is the Brown B-1 Racer which is preserved in the Wings over Miami aircraft museum at Tamiami Airport near Miami.^[2]

B-1 Racer

1 built 1933, crashed but rebuilt in 1947 and preserved.^[1]

B-2 Racer "Miss Los Angeles"

1 built 1934, 160 hp (119 kW) Menasco B6 engine, raced by Roy Minor and Marion McKeen. Crashed 1939, restored with wider-span wings but destroyed in 1938, pilot Lee Williams killed.^[1] This airplane was named the Miss Los Angeles. A replica built by Ed Marquart and Bill Turner, renowned replicator of Golden Age racers,^[3] is currently part of the collection at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida.

B-3

1 built 1936, improved B-2 with closed cockpit and 290 hp (216 kW) Menasco D-6, maximum speed 225 mph.^[1]

B-3 Super Sport

1 built 1935 with two seats and supercharged Menasco engine, maximum speed 200 mph.^[1]

L-20 Brownie

1 built 1945. Single-seat open-cockpit high parasol-wing aircraft with 25 hp (19 kW) Haines M-2 pusher engine. Intended for use by private pilots. Development ceased after Brown's death.^[1]

Notes

Bibliography