Porterfield Collegiate
type of aircraft
The Porterfield Collegiate is an American-built two-seat training and touring monoplane built by the Porterfield Aircraft Corporation of Kansas City.
Design
Developed originally as the Porterfield Zephyr, under Approved Type Certificate (ATC) 2-530, it is a light-weight version of the earlier Model 35 Flyabout for use as a pilot trainer. Powered by a 40 hp (30 kW) Continental A-40 engine it was later re-designated the Porterfield CP-40.
Though roughly in the same general class with the tandem-seat Piper Cub, Aeronca Champ, and Interstate Cadet -- and the side-by-side seating Aeronca Chief, Taylorcraft BC-12D and Luscombe 8 -- the tandem-seat Porterfield is visually distinguishable from them by its twin parallel wing struts on each side (compared to the V-shaped struts on the other planes), and by its largely symmetrical airfoil wing (similar curvature top and bottom).
Development
To improve performance, under ATC 690, the engine was replaced with a 50 hp (47 kW) Continental A50-4 engine and re-designated the CP-50 Collegiate. It is a braced high-wing monoplane with a tail skid fixed landing gear. The two bracing struts run in parallel from the bottom of the fuselage and the tailplane was fixed to the top of the rear fuselage. Due to the narrowness of the fuselage, particularly to the rear of the cabin, the type is nicknamed "Skinny Bird".
In 1940, under ATC 720, the power was again upped to the popular 65-horsepower Continental A-65, pushing cruise to 100 mph, with a 500-pound useful load permitting a 300-statute-mile range.
A number of variants were produced with different engine installations, resulting in a series of model designations.
The public source identifies “Porterfield Collegiate” as type of aircraft. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Porterfield, Collegiate and type.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Porterfield Collegiate”, the useful work is to connect “type of aircraft” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7231683. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1940.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. 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 “Porterfield Collegiate”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Porterfield Collegiate primary sources, Porterfield Collegiate archive and Porterfield 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 “Porterfield Collegiate”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Porterfield Collegiate” 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.