Central Centaur IIA
type of aircraft
The Central Centaur IIA, a.k.a. Central C.F.2a, was a British civil six-passenger joyriding biplane aircraft produced by Central Aircraft Company Limited of London.
Design and development
Following the success of the earlier Centaur IV for joyriding, A.A. Fletcher designed a larger twin-engined aircraft. Designated the Centaur IIB the first aircraft, registered G-EAHR, first flew during July 1919. The fuselage had an open cockpit for the two crew and six passengers. A second example, registered G-EAPC, was built. It had the same designation Centaur IIB but had an enclosed cabin for seven passengers. The second aircraft first flew in May 1920.
The second aircraft was tested by the Air Ministry in the 1920 Commercial Aeroplane Competition. It was described at the time as old-fashioned and low-powered, another problem was that loaded with all the fuel required for the three and half-hour test flight meant it was unable to carry passengers or pilots.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Central Centaur IIA” is type of aircraft. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Central, Centaur and type, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “type of aircraft” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 26, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q5060534. The first chronological checks are 1919 and 1920.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Central Centaur IIA”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Central Centaur IIA primary sources, Central Centaur IIA archive and Central research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Central Centaur IIA”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Central Centaur IIA” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.