Airplanes and Hot Rod Tractors In Kansas

Joe and Howard Funk were born just 30 minutes apart on September 17, 1910 in Akron Ohio. Both brothers seemed to have a knack for all things mechanical, and both excelled in drafting and shop classes in school. The brothers took an immediate liking to flying machines, which were becoming quite popular in the Akron area during that time. Their folks however… had other ideas and set them up in the retail grocery business. That proved would be the financial platform the boys needed to purse their interest in aircraft.

The boys built their first flying aircraft during the summer of 1934. It looked much like a redesigned piper cub, a popular aircraft of the day. The engine the boys chose for their airplane was a Szekely three-cylinder radial engine. While inexpensive, the Szekely was not known for its reliability. Nevertheless, building a flying aircraft proved that the boys could design and build a flying aircraft from scratch.

The Szekely engine proved so unreliable it was quickly replaced with a highly modified water-cooled Ford four cylinder automotive engine, which was mounted in an inverted position. The Ford engine was modified by the Funk brothers themselves, and proved reliable enough to power the next 60 aircraft the brothers built.

In 1940 the brothers went to the Akron business community and asked for financial help. They could no longer work out of the back of their grocery store. The community responded raising $78,000 in capital, and the Akron Aircraft Company was incorporated. The Funk's aircraft manufacturing business was moved to an old abandoned four-story schoolhouse on the northwest corner of the Akron Airport.

Production slowed in the later part of 1940 when it was determined the modified Ford engines required an excessive amount of maintaince. The Funk brothers immediately switched to 75 hp Lycoming air-cooled engines. Unfortunately, they would soon discover that the Lycoming engines also had a design flaw one serious enough that it caused the assembly line to be completely shut down for a time… until the problem could be fixed. During the shut down one of the creditors got nervous, pulled his money out of the company, and forced the boys into bankruptcy.

Help came from two Kansas oil field suppliers. Bill and Raymond Jensen of Coffeyville Kansas. As a condition of the financial bailout, the Jensen's insisted that the Funk brothers move the aircraft company to Coffeyville.

The Funk brothers were anxious to resume building aircraft so they agreed. Production began in Coffeyville in November of 1941. Three planes were built and shipped to South America before the bombing of Pearl Harbor halted private aircraft production.

A Funk Airplane Built In Coffeyville Kansas

By 1945, the cost of a new Funk airplane had reached 3,700 dollars. Competition was keen from a host of newly formed civilian aircraft companies, and the government who was selling surplus aircraft for 200 dollars each. Another problem arose when the government took away the flight training money from the G. I. Bill. The returning soldiers from the war could no longer learn to fly free. The Funk brothers sold just a dozen planes in 1947. At the end of 1948 Funk aircraft production ceased for good.

After the Funk brothers found out they could no longer sell airplanes, they turned their efforts to farm tractors. In 1948, Ford tractor owners were looking for more horsepower. A standard Ford tractor was 30 horsepower and could pull only a two-bottom plow.

An Example OF A Funk 6 Cylinder Conversion

The Funk brothers began fitting the Ford tractors with six cylinder Ford industrial engines that produced 95 horsepower, more than three times the horsepower of the original 4 cylinder engine. It was soon after, that the Brothers began offering tractor conversions using the 100 Horsepower Flathead Ford V8's. Now a farmer could easily pull a three-bottom plow.

A Funk Flathead Ford Engine Conversion

The Funk brothers ran ads in farm journals with coupons. The ads advised that if a farmer wanted a new tractor converted, he could take the coupon to his local Ford tractor dealer and have the dealer call the number in the advertisement. Ford soon found out about the conversions and immediately sent memos to all of their Ford tractor dealers saying, if the conversion was performed to immediately tear up the factory warranty.

In fact, Ford was preparing to sue the Funk brothers when several of the conversions developed rear end failures. Further testing showed that the Ford rear ends were defective from the factory. A compromise was worked out and Ford dealers became authorized to make the conversions at the dealerships.

The kits were ordered from the Funk Aircraft Company with either the 100 hp Flathead Ford V8's or the Industrial 6 cylinder engines. The original tractor 4 cylinder engine was removed and sent back to Ford in the same shipping crate as the conversion kit came in. Ford then sold the engines as replacement engines for industrial applications with full factory warranty.

The Funk brothers stopped offering conversion kits about 1953 and the company closed soon after. In later years, the Funk conversion tractors were held in low regard because the production had stopped and repair parts were difficult to find. Used Funk tractors became so difficult to sell that many were converted back to the original four cylinder engines. A fire in the Funk building in the early 1960's destroyed the records of the Funk Company. So nobody knows for sure how many tractor conversion kits were sold. It appears that the Ford V8 was the most popular conversion although in reality, there was not much horsepower difference between the two engines.

Today, the original Funk Conversion tractors are highly collectible; especially those with the Flathead Ford V8's installed. So popular in fact that you can again buy a conversion kit (patterned after the Funk kit) to put a Flathead Ford V8 into a Ford N series tractor. If you own a few acres in the country what could be more fun than a tractor / mower combination powered by a Flathead Ford V8? Add a pair of Fenton Headers along with a pair of Smithys… and mowing will never be the same.

Oh...and one last thing, in case you were wondering if a Lincoln V12 engine would work with the Funk conversion kit, the answer is yes. It worked in part because the back of the Ford V8 engine, and the back of the Lincoln V12 engine are the same, so the Funk conversion kit would also work with the Lincoln V12.

Of course things like the frame, steering rods, the hood, and a host of other things all had to be lengthened much more than with the V8 engine conversion, which would be no small task.  The Funk Company did not offer a Lincoln V12 conversion, but if they did... this is what it might look like. The guy who built this one says his tractor will run 60 plus mph. Wonder how he know that...? Scary thought.

I remember seeing a few of the Funk tractors around when I was in grade school and most of those got converted back to stock. Some of the local tractor dealers even refused to take them in on trade. Had I been a little older I would have bought one and had some fun.

This story has appeared in Engine Builder Magazine and a host of other automotive publications. I continue to write monthly columns for various automotive publications highlighting automotive history. I will share some of the more popular stories here...stay tuned!