Aeronca L-3, F-AYTH
This L-3B Aeronca crossed the Atlantic in 2022 to join the Pegasus Foundation, whose aircraft fly with Ham and Jam.
It left the Aeronca factory on 2 May 1942, serial number 42-36161, and was first assigned to the US Army training school in Lubbock, Texas. A month later it moved to the Fort Sumner auxiliary base in Tucumcari. He was used by Cutter-Carr Flying Service, a company under military contract to train glider pilots.
On 11 December 1942, pilot Horace Rodgers missed his landing aboard the little L-3, which took off like a wooden horse, bending its left landing gear.
It was repaired and continued to train many pilots. As for Horace Rodgers, he became an instructor… on a simulator!
In October 1945, the L-3B ended its military career, with 1,324 flying hours to its credit, and took on civilian registration NC46674. It was bought́ by two co-owners who sold it six months later to Louise Dodd Noah, a woman who owned a flying school at Middle Tennessee state college.
In 1986, it was again a woman, Elizabeth Stevens, who became the owner of the aircraft.
As ownership changed, the Aeronca’s base moved northwards, from Nashville in Tennessee to Washington in Vermont.
Its last move was by boat this summer, from New York to Le Havre, arriving at Saint-André-de-l’Eure in mid-July.
After being reassembled and registered as a French collector’s aircraft, F-AYTH took to the skies again on 18 December.
Like the Stinson L-5 Sentinel and the Taylorcraft L-2 in the Ham and Jam collection, this Aeronca L-3 is the only one still flying in France, and the only one listed in the French register.
The L-3B is one of 4 types of light observation aircraft that operated during the Second World War.
Very similar to the famous Piper L-4, and with an identical engine, it is however slightly more powerful and of slightly more sophisticated construction. Which is logical, given that Piper was looking for economy on the model of the Ford T. The L-3 is flown from the front seat, unlike the solo L-4.
In 1943, the first observation aircraft made available to the Free French by the American Vth Army were L-3s. This enabled the very first observation section to be set up on 7 May 1943 under the command of CNE HERRGOTT of the artillery, assisted by a junior Air Force officer.
At least one L-3 took part in D-Day, as it can be seen in a photo published in an American newspaper reporting the landings.
