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TWA Ford Trimotor Tin Goose Floatplane Seaplane
NC-410H Fleet 620 Photo 8x10
TWA Fleet 620 on Floats ... 1979 MDC ReprintDESCRIPTIONThis 8x10 black and white photograph shows a Ford Tri-Motor in TWA markings, riding on twin floats with wheeled beaching gear at North Beach Airport in Queens, New York. NC-410H is lettered on the fin, the fleet number 620 on the stabilizer, and TWA in large block letters on the corrugated fuselage. Three radial engines hang from the wing, and four men stand and sit around the floats, one perched on the float deck. Included are close views of the tail, the TWA lettering and ground crew, the engine and float, and the back of the print with its caption card.A hand-lettered caption card on the back identifies the airplane as a Ford 5-AT-C Trimotor, registration NC-410H, construction number 5-AT-69, built in August 1929 for the New England & Western Transportation Co. of Stratford, Connecticut, with TWA fleet number 620. The card adds that these photographs are the only record of TWA Trimotors on floats, taken at North Beach Airport, and credits the photo to D. Russell. Registration records agree with the card on the airplane. The Golden Years of Aviation historic U.S. register lists NC410H as a Ford 5-AT-CS, the twin-float version of the 5-AT-C, construction number 5-AT-69, with an entry dated August 20, 1929. It names the owners as New England and Western Air Transport, then Eastern Air Transport (fleet number 69), then TWA (fleet number 620), and records the airplane exported to Colombia on February 11, 1936. The card places the company in Stratford, Connecticut, but Wikipedia lists the New England & Western Air Transportation Co. as based in Springfield, Massachusetts, so the Stratford location is not confirmed.The published TWA fleet history "TWA: An Airline and Its Aircraft" has a Ford entry that begins with delivery to New England and Western Air Transportation Company in May 1930, says the airplane was used briefly at New York's Downtown Skyport on the East River from late August 1935, and records a sale to SCADTA of Colombia on February 11, 1936. The scanned text does not show which fleet number that entry belongs to, but the first owner and the date match the register's record for NC410H, and a Colombian history of the Trimotor lists a SCADTA 5-AT-C, C-270, received on February 11, 1936. Neither source names NC-410H in those passages, so treat the link as a close match and not a confirmed one.Sources used for the identification and history: the Golden Years of Aviation historic U.S. civil aircraft register, Aerofiles' Ford Trimotor reference, the TWA fleet history above, a Colombian history of the Ford Trimotor ("Repaso de la historia del Ford Trimotor en Colombia"), Wikipedia's articles on the Ford Trimotor, Trans World Airlines, LaGuardia Airport and the New England & Western Air Transportation Co., and Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields' page on Queens, New York airfields. Details that appear only on the caption card are credited to the card.The Ford Tri-Motor, nicknamed the Tin Goose, was built with corrugated metal skin and three radial engines. The 5-AT-C seated 17 passengers, and Aerofiles lists the 5-AT-CS as a 16-passenger twin-float version of it. Transcontinental & Western Air, the airline behind the TWA initials, was formed on October 1, 1930, when Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express merged at the urging of Postmaster General Walter Folger Brown. It became Trans World Airlines on May 17, 1950.North Beach Airport, also known as Glenn H. Curtiss Airport, sat on the Queens waterfront and served both landplanes and seaplanes, which made it a natural place for a Trimotor on floats. Curtiss-Wright Flying Service is recorded flying Ford Trimotors from the field in 1931 and 1932, and the site became New York Municipal Airport, dedicated October 15, 1939, today's LaGuardia Airport.The card does not date the photograph. A TWA fleet history lists the airplane with TWA in April 1933 and the register records it leaving for Colombia in February 1936, so the picture was most likely taken between those dates.This print is a 1979 company reprint made by McDonnell Douglas (MDC) at St. Louis, not an original period print, and it is offered and priced as such. The back carries a blue MDC ST. LOUIS stamp dated August 1979 reading NEGATIVES NOT FILED, along with the ink stamps of the original collector. It comes from the AITKEN COLLECTION. Images scanned at 600dpi.Donald Aitken was a Navy-trained aviator who flew helicopters and then spent his airline career as a United Airlines captain on the 747, 727, 757, 767 and DC-10, retiring in 1996. He grew up watching planes overhead in rural North Dakota and flew radio-controlled airplanes well into his later years.Every effort is made toward fact checking and provenance, including background research through news and historical archives. If any listing is incorrect in any way and you're unsatisfied with the item, please connect with me and I'll make it right. Orders placed before Noon CDT ship same day via Ground Advantage with tracking so you know exactly when it will arrive. Returns accepted on all items exceeding $25 in cost. All shipments receive rigid, professional packaging, sealed and protected in acid free protectors. Shipping is free and already built into the price, so the BIN price is exactly what you pay, no surprise shipping costs at checkout.CONDITION Black and white 8x10 print on cream-toned paper, a 1979 MDC St. Louis company print. The registration NC-410H, the fleet number 620 and the TWA lettering are clear and readable. Overall focus is soft with visible grain, and the engine and float area is blurred from the original photograph, not from wear. A few small white specks and dust marks show in the image, along with a pale irregular patch in the sky beside the rudder. No tears, creases or stains are visible in the scans. The reverse carries a blue MDC ST. LOUIS stamp dated AUG 1979 with the day faint, reading NEGATIVES NOT FILED, two ink stamps of the original collector with small purple pen marks, a pencil notation reading Photo 13 Reduce to 73.7%, and a hand-lettered caption card with rounded corners affixed to the back, all as shown. Please review all photos closely, as they are part of the description.
