Poll: Which Vintage Two-Seat Taildragger RG Trips Your Trigger?
Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 10:06PM 
Early 1950's all-metal Meyers 145... a poor man's P-51? (photo: edcoatescollection)
Way back in the day, a two seat taildragger with retractable landing gear was not too hard to find. While only 22 of the Meyers 125/145 were built, a whopping 1,521 Globe/Tempco Swifts were built and several hundred of the pre-war Culver Cadet were built. These affordable, fairly fast and economical little beasts were pretty popular thru the 50's 60's and 70's. They're not so common today, but they're still around putting smiles on the folks who fly them.
I thought it might be fun to see which one of the three trips your trigger the most. It might be all about looks... or maybe you like the performance or the efficiency of one over the others... or maybe you've experienced one of the three at some point in your life and you just can't stop thinking it's awesome. Whatever the case, vote in the poll at the bottom of the post to let your opinion be known.
The all-metal Globe/Tempco Swift introduced right after World War II (photo: wiki)
The dashing all-wood prototype Culver Cadet from the late 1930's (photo: culvercadet)
It's easy for me to pick my winner - if you've been paying attention in the last year, you probably already know which one I voted for... now it's your turn : )
Reader Comments (4)
I was looking hard for "D – All of the above."
No Luck.
Swifts are gorgeous, relatively plentiful and look great—stock or modified. I'll go with the Swift!
Every one of those birds is very special... underpowered, but little personal fighters nonetheless.
I'd like one of each, please!
Michael- Good call on the 'all of the above' : ) Any of them would be great fun for sure. For reasons I can't really explain, the Culver Cadet gets my vote. Ultimately, this post was all about giving the Meyers 145 a little attention so that those who never heard of it would be aware. Some day I'll go into great detail on it...
I *barely* fit into the Swift, but every time I'm fortunate enough to get a ride, I gladly contort and cram myself in the plane. It's worth a little discomfort to fly such a cool plane.
Martt—
I totally get the Culver Cadet choice. Actually, your question is a "Kobayashi Maru" scenario. As hard as you stew on it, there is no right answer.
The truth is, I have coveted every one of those beauties at one time or another. I love that elliptical wing on the Cadet. And it has that "target drone" cachet. And the Meyers just begs for a sliding canopy—at least a greenhouse ala P-39. It's very slick and pretty.
Really, the ideal would be for three friends with separate favorites to get one each. Can you imagine the sweet formation flying — showing up at fly-in breakfasts and airshows in a tight little vee of three, shifting to echelon and breaking off on downwind for landing. It would be a sensation!
Yes. I'm thinking that is the answer.