The Spencer S-12-D Air Car is an American light amphibian aircraft of the 1970s.

2002 Spencer Air Car Amphibian S-12CDE C-GONE (sn 001) Photo taken Jul. 2009 Arlington Fly-In @ Arlington Airport, WA USA (KAWO) Photo © AirplaneMart.com

Design and development

Percy H. Spencer had designed the Republic Seabee light amphibian aircraft in 1946. After leaving Republic, he designed the on-off two-seat Air Car. In the early 1970s he designed the improved and larger four-seat S-12-D Aircar, which retained the basic layout of the Seabee.

The Air Car is built from wood, steel and glass-fibre. It has a strut-braced high wing and the cabin and fuel-carrying floats are similar to the Seabee, but the tail unit is more angular and a retractable tricycle undercarriage is fitted.

In addition to examples constructed by Spencer, plans of the design have been sold for home construction and the first amateur-built Air Car flew in September 1974. Over 50 had flown by 2001. Examples are currently (2009) flying in the USA and Canada.

Variants

Spencer Air Car
initial two-seat version

Spencer S-12C
- Early production with 110 h.p. Lycoming

Spencer S-12D
- Main production version with 180 h.p. Lycoming O-360 or 260 h.p. Lycoming O-540

Spencer S-12E
- Prototype re-engined with 285 hp Continental Tiara 6-285

Spencer S-12CDE
- Homebuilt version (C-GONE)

Spencer S-14 Air Car Junior
- Two-seater, twin booms, Lycoming O-320, one example

Specifications

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Capacity: 3 passengers
Payload: 1,050 lbs (476 kg)
Length: 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m)
Wingspan: 37 ft 4 in (11.38 m)
Height: 9 ft 6 in (2.9 m)
Empty weight: 2,050 lbs (930 kg)
Useful load: 1,050 lbs (476 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 3,100 lbs (1,406 kg)
Powerplant: 1× Lycoming O-540-E4B5, 260 h.p. (191 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 147 mph (237 km/h)
Cruise speed: 135 mph (217 km/h)
Range: 700 miles (1,127 km)
Rate of climb: 800 ft/min (244 m/min)