The Model B was the first powered aircraft designed by brothers Howard and Joe Funk, whose previous experience was in homebuilt
gliders and sailplanes. The Model B was a strut-braced high-wing
monoplane with a
conventional tail unit and fixed
tailwheel landing gear. The design uses mixed construction with fabric-covered wooden wings and a welded steel-tube fuselage. The aircraft was powered by the brothers' own
Model Eengine developed from a
Ford "B" motor-car engine. The prototype first flew in late 1933.[1]
Production and operations
When the test flights proved to be successful the brothers formed the
Akron Aircraft Company in 1939 to build the Funk B. After production began, the engine was changed to a 75 hp (56 kW)
Lycoming GO-145-C2 horizontally-opposed four-cylinder engine and was re-designated the Model B-75-L.
After the war in 1946 production was resumed using a
Continental C85-12 engine and the aircraft was redesignated the Model B-85-C and named the Bee. It did not sell well and production was halted in 1948. 380 aircraft of all variants had been built.
Variants
Model B
Prototype and initial production aircraft with
Funk E engine.