A brief history of Roy Windover and the Interstate Cadet S-1A

By Willie Bodenstein





Lieutenant Colonel W. Roy Windover, Royal Canadian Air Force, assigned to the North American Air Defence Command (NORAD), set a Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Record for Altitude when he flew a 1941 Interstate Cadet S-1A, N37239, to an altitude of 9,388 meters (30,801 feet) over Pike's Peak, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. The FAI awarded him its Médaille Louis Blériot for his achievement.

The Cadet S-1A was powered by an air-cooled, normally-aspirated 171.002-cubic-inch-displacement (2.802 litre) Continental A65-8 horizontally-opposed four cylinder direct-drive engine, with a compression ratio of 6.3:1.


It was rated at 65 horsepower at 2,300 r.p.m. at Sea Level, using 73-octane gasoline.


At the time N37239 set this record, it was powered by an air-cooled, normally-aspirated, 171.002-cubic-inch-displacement (2.802 litre) Continental A75 horizontally-opposed four-cylinder engine with a compression ratio of 6.3:1, rated at 75 horsepower at 2,600-2,650 r.p.m. (depending on variant) at Sea Level. The A75 required 73-octane aviation gasoline.






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