Bullet from Pop Johnson

Air Classics, Dec 2001 by O'Leary, Michael

THIS POST-WAR DESIGN WAS AN ATTEMPT AT CREATING A HiGH-- PERFORMANCE LIGHT AIRCRAFT

Swift - the prototype of which was a much different plane than the production model. The prototype, which appeared in 1941, employed a great deal of bakelite-bonded plywood in its construction while the post-war production Swift was of all-- metal construction.

After the war, Pop (who was a colorful character but apparently always plagued by financial problems) set up Johnson Aircraft Inc. to produce a variety of his designs. The first was the Johnson Rocket which was a three-seater of mixed construction. Powered by a 185-hp Lycoming, the aircraft featured relatively clean lines. Only a handful were built but a couple still survive today.

Johnson's next effort was the Bullet. Of all-metal design, the aircraft curiously reverted to a tail wheel. Pop had obtained financial backing from some Tyler, Texas, oilmen but when money began to run out and the plane was still just drawings on paper, Pop was forced out of the business. The oilmen took over and changed the name of the company to the Aircraft Manufacturing Company.

The Bullet had a Continental E-185-1 of 185-hp and claimed a top speed of 210 mph. Johnson had widely advertised the craft's "jet assist" which was an exhaust augmentor mounted on the lower fuselage. However, when testing of the prototype began in 1949, this device was found to create more drag than thrust!

FAA certification was completed in December of 1950 and production of the Bullet began but, in the end, only five examples were completed before the factory shut down in 1951. The Bullet was eclipsed by the Beech Bonanza. The prototype, under Mexican registration, operated out of Brownsville, Texas, before finally smacking into a Mexican mountain. Two of the production aircraft were also destroyed in crashes.

Pop Johnson went on to build the Regent Rocket in Henderson, Texas, and after that endeavor failed he created the Crescent Aircraft Corporation and constructed a factory building on the airport at Lafayette, Louisiana. His intent was to build more of his designs including the Johnson 260 and Johnson 450 but apparently could not raise the funds and the outfit, once again, went under. After that, Pop Johnson disappeared from the aviation scene.

Two of the surviving Bullets are owned by Mark Holliday who keeps the planes at the scenic airfield in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. The illustrated Bullet, N78849, is kept in flyable condition while the second example is stored pending restoration. The third Bullet is based in Georgia.