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Description
| Manufacturer: | Culver | |
| Base model: | TD2C | |
| Designation: | TD2C | |
| Version: | -1 | |
| Nickname: | Cadet | |
| Equivalent to: | PQ-14A | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Navy / Marines | |
| Designation Period: | 1942-1946 | |
| Basic role: | Target Drone | |
| Crew: | 0 | |
Specifications
| Length: | 19' 6" | 5.9 m | |
| Wingspan: | 30' | 9.1 m | |
| Gross Weight: | 1,820 lb | 825 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 1 | ||
| Powerplant: | Franklin O-300-11 | ||
| Horsepower (each): | 150 | ||
Performance
| Max Speed: | 180 mph | 289 km/h | 156 kt |
Known serial numbers
Examples of this type may be found at
| Museum | City | State |
| National Museum of Naval Aviation | NAS Pensacola | Florida |
Recent comments by our visitors
| Jack Kelley Centerville, TX | I was stationed in Chincoteague, Va from May 1946 to March 1948 and was attached to SQD VX2. I was plane captain of a TD2C during my stay there. After my discharge I spent five years in the Naval Reserve. Would like to hear from anyone who was in the squadron during this period. 03/13/2015 @ 15:58 [ref: 68982] |
| Ralph Alshouse Corydon, IA | As a Navy Pilot, I ferryed a bunch of TD2C-1. It is the only airplane you could love and hate at the same time. It was a hot, fun airplane with a short range. The only time I got busted was flying a TD2C-1, for telling a Army Captain at Deming NM, where he could put his maps to Tucson AZ. Was told it was for conduct unbecoming a officer and gentleman. 11/27/2011 @ 11:33 [ref: 50697] |
| T.N.THOMPSON , FL | IN 1946 I WAS ASSIGNED TO VP=74 AT COCO SOLO PANAMA.IN AUG 46 OUR CREW AND A/C WAS TDY TO GTMO FOR ASR.TO FACILITATE TRAINING IN OUR PRIMARY MISSION OF PATROL AND ASW ETC TO GIVE OUR GUNNERS CURRENT TRAINING IN AIRCRAFT ATTACTS [DRY RUNS ]WE TRIED TO GET ASSISTANCE FROM GTMO.THEY OFFERED A TD2C1 A RADIO=CONTROLLED DRONE,WITHOUT A CONTROLLER,BUT WE COULD FLY IT WITH A PILOT . I VOLUNTEERED,I HADN'T FLOWEN ATD2C BEFORE ...THE PILOT SIT'S ABOUT 20 INCHES OFF THE GROUND AND WE WERE FLYING PBM'S WHERE THE PILOT SIT'S ABOUT 12 FEET OFF THE WATER.FOR THE TRANSITION I BORROWED THEIR N2S FOR AN HOUR TO TRY A FEW T/O AND LANDINGS.THEN FLEW THE TD2C ,THAT WAS REAL DIFFERENT,WITH R/C INSTALLED THERE IS NO NORMAL FLIGHT-CONTROL FEED-BACK.WHEREEVER YOU MOVE THE STICK OR RUDDER IT STAYS .ALOT OF EFFORT TO MOVE THEM AGAINST THE GRYO'S ETC BUT A FUN LITTLE HOTROD TO FLY AT THE TIME,COMPARED TO A PBM,THAT SAME MONTH I WAS SELECTED REGULAR NAVY AND WAS TRANSFERRED BACK TO THE STATES. 12/26/2009 @ 18:45 [ref: 25482] |
| Kenneth C. Marlatt El Dorado Hills, CA |
Was assigned to VX-2 OCt-1946 I was assigned to the hydraulic shop I would use a "Fish Scale" to hydraulically rig the flight controlls at a specific weight on the scale for each flt. control. This was a bank of hyd. servo valves...as I recall the adjustment nuts were 7/16 size. After 3-1/2 years....I requested sea duty and went aboard the CVE-120 Mindoro and made a Med-cruise. Put 10-yrs. in the USN and then joined the USAF for 20-yrs. active duty. Look forward to hear from a former VX-2 man. 07/28/2009 @ 07:36 [ref: 24319] |
| brad kapolei, HI | We are looking for a TD2C! Would like to display it as a drone stationed at NAS Puunene in Hawaii! Please call us at 682-3982. email brad@nambp.com Or our website at www.nambp.com
Aloha Brad 07/28/2008 @ 17:40 [ref: 22286] |
| Kelly H , AZ | My father just recently passed away and I inherited his 1940 Culver Cadet LCA (C-75). He has had it for 30+ years and at this point it needs restoration. I am trying to figure out what to do, if I should sell it to someone or give it to the local air museum in honor of my father. I know he would want to see it restored. If anyone can offer me any information about the aircraft as far as value, what is takes to restore, etc, that would be greatly appreciated. I just don't know what to do. Thank you! 03/29/2008 @ 18:57 [ref: 20290] |
| Bob Doernberg Akron, OH | In 1962 I was a Junior at Culver Military Academy in northern Indiana. While at home in Spencerville, Ohio that summer, I was taking flight instructions at a small grass strip just west of town, and the owner, Bob Croft, had a Culver Cadet on the flight line. I got him to let me fly it from the left seat, thereby likely becoming the one and only Culver Cadet to every fly a Culver Cadet.
I still remember pulling on the gear retraction handle, and having the gear instantaniously disappear into the wings. It was a very exciting and stable plane. I only wish I had been able to continue to enjoy that experience. Unfortunately, Bob sold the plan soon thereafter. 03/05/2008 @ 10:07 [ref: 19867] |
| Ethel Altman Mortimer Coconut Creek, FL | My cousin, Jeff Altman, made some comments about my father, Jimmy Altman (deceased) and his Culver Cadet. I will try to clear up a few facts. Dad and I were very close and he was my flight instructer. I flew with him many times in the Culver and cross cuntry with the Civil Air Patrol. Dad was a Lt. in the C.A.P. and flew many secret missions out of the Pittsburgh area for the many industries there. One I remember was the famous Nordon Boom Sight. He was called upon any time during the day or nite for verious flighs with papers, etc. Of couse, he used the his fast Culver. He used that plane all during the war and sold it after the war ended. At that fime he turned to restoring antique cars. It's too bad that more isn't noted about the many great things the Civil Air Patrol did for the war effort. I soloed at age of 16 and quickly earned my private license. This was during the 1941-45 period. My girl friends and I were striving to get to the WASP's but the war ended on my 18th birthday and I missed all the fun of flying the big air force plans. Just wanted to give you my memories of a Culver Cadet during WWII. 01/22/2008 @ 10:15 [ref: 19397] |
| Paul Rule Mesa, AZ | I have owned and restored Culver Cadets for several years. The Culver Cadet was designated the PQ-8 with the 90 HP Franklin engine, Several thousand were made during the war. The PQ-14 was a later follow-on with the higher HP engine and (I think) was also designated the TD2C-1. The PQ-14 was never called the "Cadet". Production of the civilian Cadet (models LCA & LFA) ended in 1942. None were made after the war. Culver made a completely different aircraft called the Culver "V" after the war.
The only post war fatal accident in the Cadet type that I know of was at the Helton Aircraft Company here in Mesa, AZ. Helton produced a very few civilian versions of the PQ-8 and one of there test pilots was killed during spin tests. The airplane spins easily and well, and spins are not dangerous of done well. Because it is a fast, slick little airplane it builds speed very quickly... the easy way for Culver to solve any problems in this area was to placard the airplane aginst spins. 01/20/2007 @ 16:38 [ref: 15244] |
| Jeff Altman Lincoln, NE | There is a story related to the Culver Cadet that my father told me a number of years before his death, and I find myself wondering whether it is true, or simply one of those family myths that has continued to be carried on. My uncle Jimmy Altman, was a private pilot prior to World War II, and among the planes he had owned, was a Culver Cadet. According to my father, uncle Jim obtained his commmercial pilot license in the Cadet. This apparently was due to the fact that at that time, this rating in part required the use of an aircraft above a certain horse power, and his J3 Cub didn't meet this requirement. At that time, the story goes, the commercial pilot license test required, among a variety of maneuvers, that the pilot spinn the aircraft. As most folks here have stated, the cadet was a very hot little plane, and according to what I was told, when my uncle Jim began pulling the plane out of the spin, it was traveling over 300 mph, and the stress ripped the fabric under the left wing. It was a very frightening experience, but he and the examiner landed safely.
Uncle Jim became an Army Air Core instructor with the start of the war, and his planes were impounded, with their engines removed and locked in a separate building. I'm not certain about the course of the events at this point, but apparently somewhere along the way, he sold his Cadet, whether to the government, or a private owner, I don't know. In any case, following the war, he decided to return to flying, and place an order for the first civilian Culver Cadet scheduled to be produced following the war. According to the story that my father told me, When this Cadet, in its civilian trim, was wheeled out, the company test pilot and the president of the company took it up for its first flight, to celebrate the company's return to peace time production. They attempted to spin the aircraft, the fabric under one of the wings ripped. This time the wing of the brand new aircraft failed, and both men were killed. According to this story, the company folded shortly there after, and my uncle Jim decided that, between this incident, and the growing costs of maintenance and fuel, to stop flying. It is an interesting story, but perhaps someone who knows more about the history of the Culver company can help me to sort out the facts from the myth. I will be passing the story on to my ten year old daughter, but I would like her to have the complete, and if possible, correct story. Thanks, Jeff Altman 08/28/2006 @ 07:04 [ref: 14011] |
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