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A Tale of Four Princes

The word 'rare' is often applied to aircraft designs that are few in number—such as the Student Prince, an open-cockpit biplane briefly manufactured in Oregon.

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Key Takeaways:

  • The Adcox Student Prince, developed by students in 1929, was Oregon's first commercially built and certified airplane, but its production was severely limited to fewer than six units due to the Great Depression.
  • Only three certified Student Princes (Nos. 101, 102, 103) and one Adcox Special Student Prince (N10471) are known to exist today, making them exceptionally rare open-cockpit biplanes.
  • The article highlights the passionate dedication of the current owners, who have either inherited or meticulously restored these antique aircraft, often collaborating to preserve their unique historical legacy and ensure they remain airworthy.
See a mistake? Contact us.

The word ‘rare’ is defined as seldom occurring or uncommon. When used to describe airplanes, it is often applied to designs that are few in number—such as the Student Prince, an open-cockpit biplane briefly manufactured in Oregon in the late 1920s to early 1930s. The Student Prince was the first airplane to be commercially built and certified in Oregon—the second was the Van’s Aircraft RV-12, built in Aurora, Oregon. Van’s would begin turning out the 912is-powered SLSAs in 2009.

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.

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