My Aviation "Attic Find"

[typ550]

My dad has had this prop socked away in the attic for 60+ years. I remember seeing it as a kid, but we just dug it out last weekend. It was from a Wiley Post bi-plane built in 1935 that my dad owned with some buddies in the early ‘40s before he went in the service. The damage occurred one day when Dad was taxiing across our local strip following a rainstorm and hit a gully and nosed-over.

If any of you aviation guys have any advice for tracking down what became of the plane, I would love to hear it. Dad is 88 now and would really like to know what happened to it. I have contacted the Wiley Post museum with the tail # and they are looking into it, but I am open to all advice. I checked the FAA website, but it seems you can only lookup N-numbers, not the old NC-numbers. Dad is not in great health these days and my mom, his wife of 64 years, recently passed, so this would make his day if we could find out what became of the plane.

For those of you who don’t know, Wiley was a kickass contemporary of Lindbergh and Earhart and was the first man to fly solo around the world (among numerous other accomplishments). Not bad for a guy with one eye. History also remembers him as the pilot who was flying Will Rogers when they crashed and were killed in Alaska.

[Normy]

What manufacturer built this propellor, and do you have a serial number? Aviation serial numbers are zealously maintained, in case there is an accident. I suspect you will be able to find out who it was sold to.

Good luck!

N!

[9dreizig]

You've got the N number FAA should be able to supply the info.

[typ550]

Originally Posted by Normy

What manufacturer built this propellor, and do you have a serial number?
N!

It's a Sensenich Brothers prop. Yes, I have the registration number, but it's in the old NC format which you can't look up on the FAA website. I am going to see if I can get a live person on the phone at the FAA and ask if they can look it up for me. For all I know, it was crashed decades ago.

By the way, the pic of the plane is a stock photo from an EAA website, not my Dad's plane.

[HardDrive]

The prop off my grandfathers Piper J-3 Cub. He was a pilot but couldn't fly fighters because he was nearly blind in one eye. So he trained new pilots at Willow Run and other landing strips in Southern Michigan.

At the end of the war, they were simply dumping the Piper Cubs. I think he paid $50 for it. He flew the plane for 40 years, and it passed on to my uncle, who still flys it today.

[widgeon13]

It could be almost anywhere and the NC number is most likely not traceable today. Aircraft type and any serial numbers would be helpful as well as year of manufacture. He most likely does not have his log books from back then and I'm not sure he would have even kept track of hours in the early days.

My father-in-law had a Waco on floats in upstate NY that ended up on the west coast and a Ryan-St that is now in a museum in NE.

Your Dad's could also be in a barn in pieces waiting to be restored and flown again.

Keep looking and asking questions, it will be a great mystery/story whatever the outcome.

[pwd72s]

Old aircraft...I have a VIN plate from one, melted on one edge. Inherited from my mother. She & Dad had a ranch in Patterson, California many years ago...told me a tale of one of Dad's friends "parking" his airplane on their place. One day, this friend fired up the plane, possibly incorrectly...it burned to the ground! But, the ID plate was salvaged. I have the plate in front of me...I think this plane ran a Ford V-8???

The plate reads:

Arrow aircraft corporation
(below this, a set of wings with an arrow pointing upward between "v-8")
Lincoln, Nebraska
Arrow model F A.T.C. (stamped in the aluminum plate) 613
Serial No. (again stamped) 20
Engine Arrow V-8 Model F
Date of manufacture (again, stamped) 5.14.37

So, anybody here have a pic? Any clues about what this aircraft looked like?
Mom said that Dad and his friend took this craft to Oregon and back...Dad
thinking of the later (1947) family relocation...

[Gooch1971]

Originally Posted by typ550

For those of you who don’t know, Wiley was a kickass contemporary of Lindbergh and Earhart and was the first man to fly solo around the world (among numerous other accomplishments). Not bad for a guy with one eye. History also remembers him as the pilot who was flying Will Rogers when they crashed and were killed in Alaska.

A bit OT but my wife went to "Will Rogers Elementary School" and I went to "Wiley Post Elementary School". I think I saw a majority of the pictures of Wiley Post during school.

From the "Only in Oklahoma" category ... the two biggest airports in Oklahoma City are named after these people who died in a plane crash.

[widgeon13]

Try this:

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N13957.html

The aircraft number is N13957 and it was a Post Aircraft. This could very well be the same aircraft. Located in IL.

Hope this is helpful.

[widgeon13]

http://www.landings.com/evird.acgi?pass=99666281&ref=-&mtd=41&cgi=%2Fcgi-bin%2Fnph-search_nnr&var=0&buf=66&src=_landings%2Fpages%2Fsearch_nnr.html&nnumber=13957

If the link above does not work, go to www.landings.com and do a search on N number N13957.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

http://www.landings.com/evird.acgi?pass=99666281&ref=-&mtd=41&cgi=%2Fcgi-bin%2Fnph-search_nnr&var=0&buf=66&src=_landings%2Fpages%2Fsearch_nnr.html&nnumber=13957

If the link above does not work, go to www.landings.com and do a search on N number N13957.

The N number you searched was from the photo above which he stated was NOT a photo of his father's plane (just a pic he found depicting what one of those looks like).

[typ550]

Thanks for the links, Widgeon

NC-13957 (the plane in the photo), was not my Dad's, but is one of the few photos I have of a Wiley Post.

Dad's plane was NC-13952, which i have not been able to find. One of the links you gave led me to NC-13961, which is in Oklahoma City (I suspect in the Science Museum, which I understand has a WP on exhibit).

There were only 13 of these planes built and I am wondering if they had sequential registration numbers - it looks like that might be the case.

I have a lead on another one thru the EAA that is in Iowa, supposedly in airworthy condition. I've contacted the owner, but not heard back from him yet.

[typ550]

Originally Posted by Gooch1971

From the "Only in Oklahoma" category ... the two biggest airports in Oklahoma City are named after these people who died in a plane crash.

[cashflyer]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Arrow aircraft corporation

Some info about the Arrow Aircraft and Motor Corporation. Apparently you can visit the Lincoln library and look through the collection - including manufacturing data on the engine.

Founded in 1926 as Arrow Aircraft & Motors Corp, Havelock NE
Changed to Arrow Airplane & Motor Corp, Lincoln NE in 1936.
Entered bankruptcy in 1940, taken over by State Securities financial group, and known as State Securities Arrow.

Arrow Sport Model F-ATC-XXX
17 produced in 1936 as ATC-601
87 produced in 1938 as ATC-613 with a redesigned wing root and optional cockpit canopy.
No production listed for 1937. Since you mention SN 20, it was perhaps built in 1937 but released as a 1938 model.

[cashflyer]

Oh... and you're correct about the engine.
The Arrow V-8 is a modified Ford Flathead V8.

[widgeon13]

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

The N number you searched was from the photo above which he stated was NOT a photo of his father's plane (just a pic he found depicting what one of those looks like).

Sorry about that, I knew it was just too easy!