This is the last airworthy Alliance A-1 Argo in the world, it was recently restored and now has just 10 hours on the airframe and engine. The Argo is an acrobatic-capable biplane and when it was first released it was one of few aircraft capable of performing the “outside loop” maneuver.
The A-1 Argo was on track to be a best-seller in the United States, it was a highly-capable and well-designed tandem-seat biplane with a chromoly steel tube fuselage and an advanced (for the time) 7-cylinder radial engine capable of 125 bhp. Sadly the Great Depression resulted in reduced demand, and just 20 A-1 Argos are known to have been built.
Fast Facts – The Alliance A-1 Argo
- The Alliance A-1 Argo, introduced in 1929, was an aerobatic biplane with a tandem-seat design and a Hess Warrior seven-cylinder radial engine producing 115 hp. It was capable of advanced maneuvers like the “outside loop,” earning praise on its first public appearance at the Detroit Air Show that same year.
- Developed by Aubrey and Adrian Hess, the Argo succeeded their earlier Hess Blue Bird and featured innovative engineering, including a new engine with dual ignition systems. However, production was limited to around 20 units due to the Great Depression, which eventually led to the closure of the Alliance Aircraft Corporation.
- The restored A-1 Argo featured here is the last airworthy example of its kind, with just 10 hours on its airframe and engine. It was restored to zero-hour condition by the Golden Wings Air Museum and later sold to its current Canadian owner in 2022.
- Now listed for $115,000 USD, this historic aircraft offers a rare opportunity to own a piece of aviation history. With only two or three surviving examples, it stands out as a fine example of early 20th-century aeronautical engineering and innovation.
The Hess Aircraft Company
The Hess Aircraft Company was founded by brothers Aubrey and Adrian Hess in Wyandotte, Michigan in 1925. Both the Hess brothers were engineers, Aubrey had served as an Aeronautical Engineer during WWI and Adrian had earned a degree in Engineering from the University of Michigan.
This is the Alliance A-1 Argo being displayed to the public for the first time at the Detroit Motor Show in 1929. The aircraft was hugely popular, but the Great Depression doomed it, and only 20 were made.
Combining their engineering acumen and their shared fascination with the burgeoning world of aircraft, they founded their own aircraft manufacturing company and developed what was considered one of the finest aerobatic three-pace biplanes of the time – the Hess Blue Bird.
The Blue Bird was powered by the Curtiss OX-5 engine or the Wright Martin Model E, offering 90 hp or 180 hp respectively. It had two side-by-side seats up front and a single seat in the rear, making it ideal as a barnstormer for taking paying joyriders in pairs in the front seat with the pilot out back listening to their screams and dodging the occasional flecks of vomit.
The Hess Blue Bird sold well, considering how new and largely unknown the Hess Aircraft Company was at the time. Approximately 20 examples were made, and they became a common sight at airshows. One was even entered into the 1927 Dole Transpacific Race fitted with a 225 hp Wright J-5 “Whirlwind” engine and a slew of modifications for long-range flying.
The Alliance A-1 Argo
For reasons lost to history, Aubrey and Adrian Hess closed down the Hess Aircraft Company in 1928, moved to Alliance, Ohio, and started the Alliance Aircraft Corporation. They developed a new aircraft that was somewhat related to the earlier Blue Bird, though it had a narrower fuselage with a single front seat and a single rear seat in tandem configuration.
Initially, this new model had been named the Blue Bird Sport, but it was later renamed the Alliance A-1 Argo. Interestingly, the Hess brothers insisted on having their own engine developed in-house. They hired John E. Everett as Chief Engineer and Frederick A. Giles and Edward Leedy as test pilots.
The Hess Warrior engine was developed in-house at the Alliance Aircraft Corporation by Chief Engineer John E. Everett. It was capable of 115 hp at 1,950 rpm with a compression ratio of 5.2:1.
The engine that Everett developed was advanced by the standards of the time, it was a seven-cylinder radial with dual ignition systems and two spark plugs per cylinder. The displacement was 447 cubic inches (7.32 liters) and it had a total weight of 295 lbs.
They named it the Hess Warrior engine, and it was capable of 115 hp at 1,950 rpm with a compression ratio of 5.2:1. This would be considered a very low compression ratio today, but given the lower quality of fuel on offer in the 1920s it was about as high as they could safely go without risking detonation.
All examples of the Alliance A-1 Argo would be powered by the Hess Warrior, and by all accounts it was a reliable and highly-capable engine.
Much like its predecessor, the A-1 Argo was an aerobatic-capable aircraft with a load rating of 8.5+/6.5-. This meant it could perform a vast array of aeronautic maneuvers including the “outside loop” – a move that could literally snap the wings off of lesser aircraft.
The Argo made its first public debut at the 1929 Detroit Air Show where it received a glowing reception. Sadly for the company, this was right before the collapse that led to the Great Depression which ran from 1929 until 1939.
As a result of this devastating economic downturn, just 20 or so examples of the Alliance A-1 Argo would be built before the company was folded. It would later be resurrected as the Taylor Brothers Aircraft Corp. to build the family of Taylorcraft models which remain in production right the way through to the current-day.
The Alliance A-1 Argo Shown Here
The aircraft you see here is one of just two to three surviving examples of the Alliance A-1 Argo, and it’s the only one known to still be airworthy with the others sitting on static display in museums.
The reason this example is still flying is thanks to the fact that it was restored to 0-hour airworthy condition by Greg Herrick’s Golden Wings Air Museum.
This is the last airworthy Alliance A-1 Argo in the world, it was restored to 0-hour condition by Greg Herrick’s Golden Wings Air Museum and it’s now being offered for sale.
It was sold by the Golden Wings Air Museum in 2022 to the current owner who moved it to Canada and registered it locally on the Canadian register.
It’s now being offered for sale out of Canada with an asking price of $115,000 USD. It has just 10 hours on the airframe and 10 hours on the engine since the restoration, and you can visit the listing here if you’d like to read more or buy it.
Images courtesy of Platinum Fighter Sales
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