My grandfather owned N80276 when it was new and he and a partner(N3030K) were Culver dealers after the war. If anyone has information on this airplane, location, condition or if for sale please contact me. The last I new of it the airplane was in California. I have a few photos of the airplane and even some video that was made from 8MM film too. Illinois

I was fortunate enough to get a ride in the only Culver V I've ever seen. That was back in the early 60s. I've loved the looks of it ever since. Always wanted to build a scale model, and did so awhile back. For you Culver V lovers, take a look at a video of the model flying at: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1197422 That should bring back a few good memories for you.

I have owned a V for about 36 years. It's a nice airplane but you can't leave then out in the weather, like so many people did. (What a shame). The plane is made of spruce covered with birch plywood, and it doesn't take much rain to ruin a good airplane. The fuel tanks were bladder cells and they get old and rot and need replacing. (I made aluminum tanks as replacement tanks and they worked well) I wish someone would get busy and increase the HP to 125 or more.

On June 20th, 1959, I bought N80289, Culver V , (just happened to run across the original bill of sale), After many years , and many hours of flying, in many diferent types of planes, I look back, and that airplane was built ahead of its time. A cont.85hp, contl prop, fuel injection,retract gear,(up in 5 seconds, and down in 4 seconds), as Curtis Burns, points out, the trim wheel moves the flaps, and horizontal stabilizer, this was the Simply Fly System, Cruise at 130 mph, great airplane,

A friend and I rebuilt a Culver Cadet in 1957. The power plant was a Continental C-75. It had no electrical system, hand operated retractable gear,a non stearable tail wheel,and a wood prop. It was a fine flying little airplane.

I'd like to ask a question, as I was riding in a Culver V in the late 1940's and the pilot pulled a full 90 degree turn at the tightest possible turn and I always wondered how many G's we pulled. Anybody know? It was plenty, for sure. Thanks, Jack.

I bought Culver V N80276 in 1977 as a basket case. My friend Jerry Drake and I fixed it up and put it back into service. We test flew it in the evening (aug 10 1978) the day before my first son Weslee was born. It flew very well with very responsive control inputs. Jerry and I flew it about 50 hours before it was sold. I now (aug 18 2009) have 4 Culver V projects N3057K, N1027L, N6211Q and N80273. I am hopeing to have N3057K flying in the near future.

I was surprised to find this web site of the culver
aircraft , my father was a pilot & his plane was`
mooney.A 4PLACE SMALL BUT EASY TO FLY.

now my my younger brother is F-16 pilotwith the AF.

Still one of the cutest airplanes ever built. Very comfortable to fly. Under-powered aircraft were common back then. Remember the Swift GC1A at 85hp.?

I recall the Culver drone well. They were all painted red and when I was instructing at Norman Oklahoma they stopped in for refueling while being ferried to point of destruction. They were radio controlled and the best man at my wedding had a tour of duty flying them with a control box in the cockpit to check out the operations before turning them over to the fleet for target practice

My Dad (Bruce McComb) and his brother Kenneth crashed a Culver V in the Hollywood Hills near what is now Forrest Lawn Cemetary on July 4, 1949. Dad said the oil pump shaft sheared. Dad broke his back and Kenneth was seriously injured but recovered. I used to have his Log Book and photos of the crash site but lost them over the years.

I just came into possession of (4) Sensenich C276A2 prop blades; researching these blades led me to the Culver V.
It seems like another one of those neat little designs that should have made it big in the post-war market. Now,
I've got to go out and find one to photograph.

The Culver I flew in 1947 was a TAIL DRAGGER and was owned by a friend whom said it had been a drone. Never did check this out. But....the little thing flew quite nicely.

I remember Culvers at the Detroit City Airport right after WWII. They had a remputation for the landing gear collapsing.

I owned Culver V N44513 in early 1953. At the time I went from about 30 hours in J3's and Champs to the "V" with no problems and flew it for about 50 hours with no problems before I was shipped off to Korea with the US Army. It was a nice flying little airplane that would have been a great airplane with 125 HP instead of the 85 Continental. I sold the airplane in El Paso in May of 1956 on my way overseas and often wonder what became of it.

Prior to WWII, the Culver Cadet was one of the most popular two place singles on the market. During WWII, Culver was in the market producing the Target Drones used by the military for gunnery practice. Some of the PQ-13 design can be seen in the Culver V, which turned out to be a big disappointment for the post war flying community. It did not last for any length of time. I believe that a more powerful engine would have helped.

I own a Culver V, N3104K. I agree that it needs more power, maybe 125 HP. Mine has a fuel injection 85 HP Continental, electrically retracted tricycle gear, the trim wheel repositions the horizontal stabilizer and has positions for takeoff, climb, cruise, descend and land. For stability, instead of having a constant dihedral of the wing joined at the center fuselage, the center 2/3 of the wing is flat with a solid main spar, the outside 1/3 of each wing panel has increased dihedral with a bit of forward sweep. The prop was available either with a Sensenitch two-position prop or a pilot adjustable Beech-Roby, which my aircraft has. In short, Al Money's design has a lot of advanced aerodynamic features for 1946.

I owned two Culver Vs in the 1940s-1950s. All the V needed was more horse power. Al Mooney's design was ahead of its time. (Both of my airplanes are apparently gone, since the N numbers have been re-assigned.