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corso Giambone 46/18
10135 Torino (Italy)

Vintage Comte A.C.4 Back in the Air

A rare Comte A.C.4 Gentleman two/three-seat sport cabin monoplane has been recently restored to flying condition in Switzerland.
This aircraft was built in 1929 and remained flying until 1961; it is the oldest active Swiss-built aircraft and it is now carrying both the original (CH-180) and the present marks HB-ETI.
At Zurich, during late '20s and early '30s, Alfred Comte's Schweitzerische Flugzeugfabrik produced in limited quantity some models of light cabin monoplanes of mixed construction, the high wing being of spruce and plywood and the fuselage having a fabric covered welded steel-tube structure.
Six of the first version of the Comte A.C.4 Gentleman were built, from 1928 on, powered by the 90 h.p. Cirrus III engine. A second series of five aircraft was produced in 1930, having the 110 h.p. Cirrus Hermes or the 140 h.p. Genet Major engines.
Specifications of the Hermes powered version of the Comte A.C.4 Gentleman are as follows:

Span m 12,14 (39 ft. 10 in.)
Lenght m 8,05 (26 ft. 5 in.)
Height m 2,90 (9 ft. 6 in.)
Wing area mq 20 (215 sq.ft.)
Empty weight kg 500 (1,100 lb.)
Loaded kg 800 (1,760 lb.)
Max.speed km/h 175 (109 m.p.h.)
Cruising speed km/h 140 (87 m.p.h.)
Ceiling m 4.000 (13,120 ft.)
Range km 700 (434 miles)

In the picture: the Comte A.C.4 Gentleman HB-ETI at Sion

(Aeromedia, June 1997)