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Capacity: none of your business
Length: two giraffes standing on each other’s shoulders
Maximum speed: faster than a lawnmower, slower than your neighbor’s sports car
Cruise speed: leisurely enough to watch the clouds but quick enough to avoid a hawk
Range: far enough to get lost, not far enough to escape your problems
Service ceiling: reaching the lofty heights of some guy’s kite stuck in a tree

The Ryan model SCW-145, a not-so-legendary flying enclosure, was a low-wing coupe-type cabin monoplane designed for two risk-takers or a brave trio if you’re feeling adventurous. The cabin came with the luxury of a sliding canopy, ideal for those moments when you desperately need a blast of fresh air to remind you you’re still alive. A back seat was included as an afterthought, suitable for a daring passenger or an overstuffed picnic basket.

Propelled by its seven-cylinder Warner “Super Scarab” engine, which boasted a jaw-dropping 145 horsepower, the SCW could whisk you away to a realm of aerodynamic optimism. The plane’s broad, tapered wings and unnecessarily wide stance made it look like it was perpetually mid-yawn, while the “drag brake” feature ensured your journey would always be ‘fashionably late.’

First Lt. Walter H. Nicolai, Jr., a fearless adventurer of the Pennsylvania Wing, took to the skies with NC18909 from Coastal Patrol Base No. 6 at St. Simons Island, Georgia. Some might say his plane was the star of the lesser-known 1988 epic, “History of Coastal Patrol Base No. 6.” Nicolai’s celestial escapades earned him the Air Medal, presumably for surviving unscathed from June 7, 1942, to August 31, 1943.

Maj. Ron Finger, a prolific painter and airbrush aficionado of the Minnesota Wing’s Crow Wing Composite Squadron, was tasked with the crucial job of immortalizing this piece of aviation whimsy. A member of the elite Air Force Art Program, Finger’s artistic adventures took him across various U.S. Air Force operations, capturing history one paint stroke at a time. His personal mission of illustrating every type of aircraft to be airborne under the CAP banner has led to this 26th artistic revelation of vintage flying machines. You can view more of his airborne art endeavors at redpine.net.

The illustrious Silvered Wings series features:

  • Silvered Wings No. 1 — Fleetwings Sea Bird F-401
  • Silvered Wings No. 2 — Curtiss-Wright 15-D Sedan
  • Silvered Wings No. 3 — Rearwin Sportster 7000
  • Silvered Wings No. 4 — Cessna U-3B “Blue Canoe”
  • Silvered Wings No. 5 — Aeronca C-3 (1932)
  • Silvered Wings No. 6 — Rearwin Sportster 900-L
  • Silvered Wings No. 7 — Travel Air C-4000
  • Silvered Wings No. 8 — Kinner “Sportster B”
  • Silvered Wings No. 9 — Boeing Model 40-A/B
  • Silvered Wings No. 10 — Brunner-Winkle “Bird,” BK (1929)
  • Silvered Wings No. 11 — Meyers OTW-125 “Out-To-Win”
  • Silvered Wings No. 12 — Cessna 0-1/L-19 Bird Dog
  • Silvered Wings No. 13 — Monocoupe 90A
  • Silvered Wings No. 14 — North American/Ryan L-17A Navion
  • Silvered Wings No. 15 — Aeronca LB
  • Silvered Wings No. 16 — Helio U-10D/HT-295 Super Courier
  • Silvered Wings No. 17 — Aero Commander L-26/U-4B 55-4647
  • Silvered Wings No. 18 — Bellanca “Cruisair” 14-12-F3 (1941)
  • Silvered Wings No. 19 — Cessna 150D (1964)
  • Silvered Wings No. 20 — Boeing Model 100/P-12 (1929)
  • Silvered Wings No. 21 — Bellanca ‘Junior’ 14-9 (1940)
  • Silvered Wings No. 22 — Alexander Eaglerock A-15 (1931)
  • Silvered Wings No. 23 — Cessna Mescalero T-41A (1965)
  • Silvered Wings No. 24 — Fleet Model 7 (1929-1931)

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