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1939 Beechcraft D17A Staggerwing NC19453 Photo, Sole UC-43F 8x10
Beech Factory Photo of the Sole Surviving D17A StaggerwingDESCRIPTIONYou're looking at an original 1939 Beech Aircraft Corporation factory photograph, straight from the company's own Wichita, Kansas print archive, showing a brand-new D17A Staggerwing biplane fresh off the line.The verso carries the factory's own typed caption: "BEECHCRAFT MODEL D17A Biplane, September, 1939, Wright Whirlwind – 350 HP, 182 mph," along with the "Photo From BEECH AIRCRAFT CORPORATION, WICHITA, KANSAS" stamp and the print's serial number, 1684A.What makes this print special isn't just the factory caption... it's the specific airplane in the photo.The registration painted on the tail and fuselage, NC19453, belongs to construction number 305, the very first D17A Beech ever built (of only eight produced) and, today, the only one of the eight known to survive.That aircraft now sits on permanent static display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon... the same museum that houses Howard Hughes' famous "Spruce Goose."The story doesn't stop there. In 1942, this same airplane was pressed into World War II service with the U.S. Army Air Forces and given a designation all its own: the only UC-43F Traveler ever built, serial 42-49071.It went on to serve at several stateside airfields before being sold as surplus after the war, passing through a string of private owners under the civilian registration N50959, and eventually being donated to the museum in 2001. Museum lore even holds that Winston Churchill flew in this exact airplane during a wartime fishing trip in Idaho.This photo predates all of that. Taken the same month the airframe rolled out of the factory, it shows the aircraft in its original civilian delivery livery, well before its wartime conversion and its decades as a survivor.For anyone building a collection around the Staggerwing, Beech factory history, or one-of-a-kind WWII airframes, this is a documented, identifiable piece of a genuinely rare aircraft's very beginning.A faint period pencil notation on the back ("...305" and an engine spec reading consistent with the Wright R-760 Whirlwind) lines up independently with the aircraft's known construction number and powerplant, adding a second thread of internal documentation to the factory caption.CONDITIONOriginal silver gelatin factory print, 8x10 inches. The front image is clean and sharp with no tears, no writing, and no stains — all the wear is confined to the back. The verso shows a printed factory caption label taped in place (period tape, now toned), a stamped Beech Aircraft Corporation credit block, and handwritten pencil notations. There is slight curling along the right edge of the print and a crease visible on the back; the back also shows some staining/liquid-contact discoloration that does not show through to the image side. Sold as-is, please review all photos before purchasing.
