Pablo Cohn in his award winning Commonwealth Skyranger

Image best viewed pbase "Original Size"

The Skyranger was originally produced in 1940 and was furnished with a variety of opposed engines made by Continental Motors and the Franklin Engine Company. Seating two people side-by-side, it featured a fabric-covered steel tube fuselage and wooden wing and it sold for about $3000. It had a conventional landing gear with a tailwheel.

Commonwealth Aircraft

In 1942 the Rearwin Airplane Company was purchased by Commonwealth Aircraft of Kansas City, Missouri. In 1946 Commonwealth re-established the construction of the Skyranger at their Valley Stream plant for just one year. It had many minor modifications but was essentially the same aircraft. As the anticipated post-war boom in civil aviation had not then started, Commonwealth went bankrupt in 1947. 275 Skyrangers were built by Commonwealth.

Serial numbers in the 1500s were built by Rearwin. Serial numbers in the 1600s are Commonwealth 185 Skyrangers.
Specifications
Commonwealth 185, built in 1946, at Boeing Field, Seattle, in May 1989

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Capacity: 2
Length: 21 ft 9 in ( m)
Wingspan: 34 ft 0 in ( m)
Gross weight: 1,350 lb (612 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Continental C85, 85 hp (63 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 114 mph ( km/h)
Cruise speed: 103 mph ( km/h)
Range: 600 Miles miles ( km)
Endurance: 5 hours hours
Service ceiling: 14,000 ft ( m)
Rate of climb: 650 ft/min ( m/s)