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Which aircraft received U.S. type certificate No. 1?

Short answer

The Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster, a 1926 U.S. utility aircraft also known as the J4 Airster after its engine, was the first aircraft to receive a type certificate in the United States. A.T.C. No. 1 was issued by the Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce on March 29, 1927.

Published: November 5, 2026 · Updated: November 5, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Which aircraft received U.S. type certificate No. 1?
¿Qué avión recibió el certificado de tipo n.º 1 de EE UU?

The first U.S. type certificate

The Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster, also known as the J4 Airster after its engine, was a utility aircraft built in the United States in 1926, notable for being the first aircraft to receive a type certificate in the United States. That document, A.T.C. No. 1, was issued by the Aeronautics Branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce on March 29, 1927.

A conventional biplane

It was a conventional single-bay biplane with equal-span, unstaggered wings, with the pilot and passengers seated in open tandem cockpits.

Few aircraft built

It was marketed for various roles, including crop dusting, aerial photography and cargo transport, but only a handful of aircraft were built.

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