1932 Russell Light Monoplane

The Russell Light Monoplane is a plans-built design dating to 1929, when the plans could be obtained through Flying & Glider Manual, “The Sportplane Authority of America” and other publications. It was designed to have a converted 4-cylinder Henderson motorcycle engine as powerplant. This particular example was originally built by a gentleman named Mathieu in Fort Worth, Texas, and completed in 1932. It originally had an Anzani engine, which failed in flight with a subsequent owner. It was rebuilt with a Zekeley 3-cylinder engine, which again failed and the aircraft had another forced landing. After going through several owners and several rebuild attempts, it was returned to flight in the early 1980s with a modern 65 h.p. engine. Finally acquired by Eric Presten in California, it was converted to a 9-cylinder Salmson radial, then sold Al Kelch in 2002.