It was first produced as the Rearwin Skyranger, was the last design of Rearwin Aircraft before the company was purchased by a new owner and renamed Commonwealth Aircraft. The Skyranger was a high-wing light plane seating two people side-by-side. It had a conventional landing gear with a tailwheel. It was constructed with a fabric-covered steel tube fuselage and wooden wing (with a semi-symmetical airfoil cross-section. The Skyranger was powered by a variety of opposed engines made by Continental Motors and the Franklin Engine Company ranging from 65 to 90 horsepower. It sold for $1,795 to $2,400. The Skyranger handled differently from the other planes in its class (such as the Cub, Taylorcraft, Cadet, Collegiate, and Aeronca Chief) -- with a "heavy-airplane feel" (heavy controls, exceptional stability). With an unusually large vertical stabilizer for its size, the Skyranger was exceptionally susceptible to crosswinds during landing and taxiing. Unusually for the time and aircraft in its class, the Skyranger was also designed with slots in its outer wings to allow controllability at lower speeds. For further details of the development history and seven variants, click here. Specifications below are for the Skyranger 185 variant.
