Student Prince

The Student Prince was a single‑seat, parasol‑wing trainer designed and built in the late 1920s by the Adcox Aviation Trade School, a small instructional facility in Portland, Oregon. Intended as a hands‑on learning platform for apprentices, the aircraft combined straightforward construction with modest performance, allowing students to grasp fundamental principles of aerodynamics, wood‑frame fabrication and fabric covering. Its 65‑hp Continental A‑40 engine powered a wooden fuselage framed with spruce longerons and ribs, while the wing employed a two‑spar design braced by steel cabane struts. The open cockpit featured a simple instrument panel, and the landing gear was a fixed, split‑axle type with rubber shock absorbers, typical of the era. Only a handful of Student Princes were completed, each serving as a flying laboratory for mechanics and pilots who later joined larger manufacturers such as Boeing and Lockheed. Though never mass‑produced, the aircraft played a crucial role in early vocational aviation education, demonstrating how small‑scale design could provide practical experience. Its legacy endures as an example of how trade schools contributed to the skilled workforce that powered American aviation growth throughout the interwar period.

Adcox Aviation Trade School

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Design & Classification