Elias EM

The Elias EM was a 1920s American general-purpose and marine expeditionary biplane built by Elias.

Development
The company designed the Elias EM-1 to meet a United States Marine Corps requirement for a multi-role marine expeditionary aircraft. It was required to operate on either floats or wheels. The EM-1 was a tandem two-seat unequal-span biplane powered by a 300hp (224kW) Wright-Hispano H engine. The prototype was modified with equal-span wings and delivered to the Marine Corps in 1922. Six production aircraft were built (designated EM-2) all had the equal-span wings and were powered by a 400hp (298kW) Liberty 12 inline engine.

One production aircraft was delivered to the United States Marine Corps and five to the United States Navy. One of the Navy aircraft was modified as an observation aircraft and re-designated EO-1.

Variants

 * EM-1
 * Prototype with a 300hp (224kW) Wright-Hispano H engine, one built.


 * EM-2
 * Production aircraft with a 400hp (298kW) Liberty 12 inline engine, six built including one later converted to an EO-1.


 * EO-1
 * One EM-2 aircraft converted as an observation aircraft.

Operators

 * United States Marine Corps
 * United States Navy
 * United States Navy