Amelia Earhart was flying a Lockheed Electra 10E when she disappeared over the Pacific in 1937. One of the first designs of the Lockheed company, the Electra was one of the first all-metal, passenger planes; its many innovations contributed to the design of the P-38 fighter. From Aero Digest, April, 1935: Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, [...]
From Aero Digest, April, 1935 : Fairchild Aircraft Corporation, Hagerstown, Maryland • Ten-place high-wing amphibion. Pratt and Whitney Hornet S3Dl engine, 645 horsepower. Span 57 feet. Length overall 45 feet 9 inches. Height overall 15 feet 11 inches. Wing area 475 square feet. Power loading 13.2 pounds per horsepower. Wing loading 17.9 pounds per square [...]
The Douglas DC-2 was a 14 seat, twin-engine airliner produced by Douglas Aircraft Corporation. Designed to meet TWA requirements for a new airliner, the DC-1 (which evolved into the DC-2) made its first flight in 1933. Inspired by the success of the DC-1, the DC-2 was introduced less than a year after the DC-1′s first [...]
An unusual biplane airliner, capable of carrying 18 passengers. photo probably taken at East Boston airport, c. 1936 Curtiss-Wright Condor, NC12396 On the Curtiss-Wright Condor aircraft (which had no galleys) American Airlines (Airways) hostesses served their eighteen passengers coffee, tea, Coca-Cola, biscuits and coffeecake from a picnic hamper. From Aero Digest, April, 1935: Curtiss-Wright Airplane [...]
From Aero Digest, April, 1935: Curtiss-Wright Airplane Company, Robertson, Missouri • Two-place biplane. Two Wright Cyclone SGR-1820-F2 geared engines, 750 horsepower each. Span upper wing 82 feet. Span lower wing 74 feet. Length over all 49 feet 7 inches. Height overall 16 feet 7.5 inches. Wing area 1276 square feet. Power loading 12.4 pounds per [...]
A nice shot of some passengers de-planing at East Boston airport: Douglas DC3 – one of the most famous, longest-lived airplanes. At least until the 1980′s, some were still flying commercially in South America and Africa. In World War Two, the military version was the C-47. Douglas DST Sleeper “an idea that didn’t work out”
Four pictures, of various models: Stinson Tri-motor, Model T East Boston 1936 Boston & Maine – Central Vermont Airways Stinson Tri-motor, Model U East Boston 1936 American Airlines Stinson Trimotor, Model A American Airlines hangar Stinson Tri-motor, Model A E. Boston 1936
from April, 1935 Aero Digest: • Eighteen-place sesquiplane. Two Wright Cyclone geared engines, 710 horsepower each. Available as land plane, amphibian, seaplane. (Specifications given for landplane; data on amphibion and seaplane in brackets in that order.) Span 76 feet. Length overall 44 feet. Height overall 14 feet. Wing area 770 square feet. Power loading 10 [...]
The Aircruiser was commissioned in 1928, by Italian WW I ace, Caesare Sabelli, who wanted a plane that could fly non-stop from New York to Rome. Giuseppe Bellanca’s original design, the Model K , never made the flight, but the design survived. The distinctive “W” silhouette of the plane is derived from the aerodynamic lifting [...]
from the April, 1935 Aero Digest: • President: Don P. Smith. Vice-president and Chief Engineer, Gerard F. Vultee. Nine- or ten-place low-wing monoplane. ATC 545. Wright Cyclone F-2 engine, 735 horsepower at 4000 feet. Span 50 feet. Length overall 37 feet. Height overall 10 feet 2 inches. Wing area 384 square feet. Power loading 11.55 [...]