help identifying old airplane

[Gerald S.]

I never saw this in person but saw pictures of it. IIRC these are the
characteristics:

1. "old" - I'd say from the 1930's to early 1950's.
2. monoplane
3. prop - can't even remember if it was single or multi
4. I'm guessing about twice the size of a DC3
5. closed cabin (I'm guessing it had a cabin) but definitely an open
cockpit. This was the most distinctive aspect of the a/c. Looked like
two guys in front of an 18 wheeler but the cockpit was open.
6. I think it was based north of San Francisco and might have attempted
to cross the Atlantic but had to stop on the east coast of the US due to
a mechanical.

any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

Gerald Sylvester

[Bertie the Bunyip[_19_]]

"Gerald S." > wrote in news:FwJbj.85043
:

> I never saw this in person but saw pictures of it. IIRC these are the
> characteristics:
>
> 1. "old" - I'd say from the 1930's to early 1950's.
> 2. monoplane
> 3. prop - can't even remember if it was single or multi
> 4. I'm guessing about twice the size of a DC3
> 5. closed cabin (I'm guessing it had a cabin) but definitely an open
> cockpit. This was the most distinctive aspect of the a/c. Looked like
> two guys in front of an 18 wheeler but the cockpit was open.
> 6. I think it was based north of San Francisco and might have attempted
> to cross the Atlantic but had to stop on the east coast of the US due to
> a mechanical.
>
> any ideas?

Sounds like an early Fokker, maybe, An F VII
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Southern_cross.jpg or maybe an FII.
http://www.dutch-aviation.nl/index5/Civil/index5-2%20F2.html


One F II was used by the US Army in the first non-stop cross continental US
flight so it could be that you were talking about, but th econfiguration
you mention was relatively common in the 1920s so could be just about
anything.
You could browse around Aerofiles to se if you can find the one you are
looking for. Also try loking up early Lockheeds, DeHavillands Boeings
Fords. They all more or less fit your description.
There wasn't much in that era bigger than a DC 3, BTW, though it's not
impossible. By the 1930s pretty much all large airplanes had a closed
coskpit.


Bertie

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

On Mon, 24 Dec 2007 07:49:57 GMT, "Gerald S." > wrote in
>:

>I never saw this in person but saw pictures of it. IIRC these are the
>characteristics:

>1. "old" - I'd say from the 1930's to early 1950's.
>2. monoplane
>3. prop - can't even remember if it was single or multi
>4. I'm guessing about twice the size of a DC3
>5. closed cabin (I'm guessing it had a cabin) but definitely an open
>cockpit. This was the most distinctive aspect of the a/c. Looked like
>two guys in front of an 18 wheeler but the cockpit was open.
>6. I think it was based north of San Francisco and might have attempted
>to cross the Atlantic but had to stop on the east coast of the US due to
> a mechanical.

>any ideas?

I've seen pix like that.

Can't put my finger on any of them.

"The first airplane with an enclosed cabin appeared as early as 1913
on Igor Sikorsky's airplane The Grand. However, during the 1920s
there were many passenger aircraft in which the crew were open
to the air while the passengers sat in a cabin."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockpit

"After World War I ended, Bellanca relocated his operation to Omaha,
Nebraska, where he formed the Roos-Bellanca Aircraft Company, with Victor
H. Roos and A.H. Fetters, to complete his first high-winged monoplane,
building it in the back of a fire station. Known as the C.F., the airplane
broke new ground in 1921 by offering passengers the comfort of an enclosed
cabin while continuing the tradition of an open cockpit for the pilot."

http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/GENERAL_AVIATION/bellanca/GA1.htm

Nope--the cockpit is behind the passenger cabin.

Fokker Universal?

<http://dmairfield.com/airplanes/NC3317/index.htm>

<http://oldbeacon.com/gallery/postma/postma-13.htm>

Marty
--
Big-8 newsgroups: humanities.*, misc.*, news.*, rec.*, sci.*, soc.*, talk.*
See http://www.big-8.org for info on how to add or remove newsgroups.

[Bertie the Bunyip[_19_]]

"Martin X. Moleski, SJ" > wrote in
:

> On Mon, 24 Dec 2007 07:49:57 GMT, "Gerald S."
> > wrote in
> >:
>
>>I never saw this in person but saw pictures of it. IIRC these are the
>>characteristics:
>
>>1. "old" - I'd say from the 1930's to early 1950's.
>>2. monoplane
>>3. prop - can't even remember if it was single or multi
>>4. I'm guessing about twice the size of a DC3
>>5. closed cabin (I'm guessing it had a cabin) but definitely an open
>>cockpit. This was the most distinctive aspect of the a/c. Looked
>>like two guys in front of an 18 wheeler but the cockpit was open.
>>6. I think it was based north of San Francisco and might have
>>attempted to cross the Atlantic but had to stop on the east coast of
>>the US due to
>> a mechanical.
>
>>any ideas?
>
> I've seen pix like that.
>
> Can't put my finger on any of them.
>
> "The first airplane with an enclosed cabin appeared as early as 1913

Actually it was a couple of years earlier in the AVRO G


Bertie

[Gerald S.]

Thanks Martin and Bertie. So far none of the ones you recommended.
Much bigger and the open cockpit was like an flat-faced 18 wheeler with
the roof over the drivers/pilots heads cut off. It looked that weird.
If I hear what it is, I"ll post the answer.

Gerald

[Bertie the Bunyip[_19_]]

"Gerald S." > wrote in news:R7Sbj.1509$pr6.56
@nlpi070.nbdc.sbc.com:

>
> Thanks Martin and Bertie. So far none of the ones you recommended.
> Much bigger and the open cockpit was like an flat-faced 18 wheeler with
> the roof over the drivers/pilots heads cut off. It looked that weird.
> If I hear what it is, I"ll post the answer.
>


A bit more of a description would help.

High wing? Biplane? Number of engines?

Bertie

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

On Mon, 24 Dec 2007 09:37:51 -0800, "Gerald S." > wrote in >:

>
>Thanks Martin and Bertie. So far none of the ones you recommended.
>Much bigger and the open cockpit was like an flat-faced 18 wheeler with
>the roof over the drivers/pilots heads cut off. It looked that weird.
>If I hear what it is, I"ll post the answer.

Fokker T-2?

http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/fokker_t2.htm

Marty
--
Big-8 newsgroups: humanities.*, misc.*, news.*, rec.*, sci.*, soc.*, talk.*
See http://www.big-8.org for info on how to add or remove newsgroups.

[Bertie the Bunyip[_19_]]

"Martin X. Moleski, SJ" > wrote in
:

> On Mon, 24 Dec 2007 09:37:51 -0800, "Gerald S."
> > wrote in
> >:
>
>>
>>Thanks Martin and Bertie. So far none of the ones you recommended.
>>Much bigger and the open cockpit was like an flat-faced 18 wheeler
>>with the roof over the drivers/pilots heads cut off. It looked that
>>weird. If I hear what it is, I"ll post the answer.
>
> Fokker T-2?
>
> http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/fokker_t2.htm
>
> Marty

Yeah, that's what I thought, though I posted a pic of the F-2.

Might be an early Junkers airliner..

Bertie

[Gerald S.]

TMartin X. Moleski, SJ wrote:
> Fokker T-2?
>
> http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/fokker_t2.htm

this very well might be it. I can't find any photos of it while flying
though. The photo I saw of it I *think* was a color photo of it flying
shot maybe within the past 10 years. For now I'll accept that this is it.

thanks!

Gerald

[Bertie the Bunyip[_19_]]

"Martin X. Moleski, SJ" > wrote in
:

> On Mon, 24 Dec 2007 09:37:51 -0800, "Gerald S."

>
> Marty

Like this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:K_30_L.JPG