Stunning Beauty!

[Let'sgoflying!]

no idea as to the age of this post or source, but it is Gorgeous!

This is as it should be - passengers in closed cabin, pilot in open cockpit
so he will stay awake. The airplane is in Spokane, WA, and is the oldest
flying Boeing in the World.

After 8 years and 8,000 hours of toil the Boeing 40C rolled out last winter
as a finished airplane. They had to wait a few weeks for the snow to melt
to fly this baby. They received their Standard Airworthiness Certificate
from the FAA and completed the engine pre-oil and fuel flow tests for the
first of the taxi tests.

Factoids for the Boeing 40 project:

221 gallons of dope/reducer and 120 yards of 102 ceconite fabric.
12 gallons of poly urethane paint for the sheet metal.
The wings have 33,000 individual parts in them.
The airplane weighs 4080 lbs empty, has a gross weight of 6075 lbs.
It is 34 ft long and 13 feet tall with a wing span of 44 1/2 feet.

Wing loading is 10 lbs per sq ft and power loading is 10 Pounds per HP.
It should cruise at 115 mph using 28 GPH, and 32 GHZ at 120 mph.
It carries 120 gallons of fuel in three tanks.

350 - 2 inch brushes were used to apply 6 gallons of West Systems epoxy,
and 181 rolls of paper towels for cleanup.

There were a total of 62 volunteers who worked on the project to some
degree. 21 of the volunteers did a significant amount of work, and 9 of
the volunteers worked continuously during the 8 year project.

 

[TeenDoc]

Indeed, beautiful! I saw it in the vintage area at Oshkosh last July. I was stunned by the wood interiors.

 

[TeenDoc]

Here, I found some pics.

 

[Steve]

http://home.comcast.net/~biplane0/boeing40/

 

[Bob Bement]

I think that there was an old movie that this model of airplane was in. I can't remember the name of the Movie but I think that Reeves that died a few years ago was in it. Maybe The Aviator, not the one about Howard Hughes. It had an airplane crash of an old airmail plane maybe around Baker City, OR. Anybody ever see it? Or am I explaining a dream I had. Bob

 

[Steve]

Christopher Reeve was in a movie based on Ernest K. Gann's "The Aviator"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088758/

I couldn't find any reference to the Model 40 being used in that movie, but I did come across this info on the man responsible for Boeing producing the 40

http://www.earlyaviators.com/ehubbard.htm

"...in 1927, Eddie Hubbard convinced Boeing to bid for the cross-country mail and passenger route from San Francisco to Chicago. He then convinced the company to resurrect a 1925 mail plane prototype upgraded with a metal body, more powerful engine and build twenty-five for the route. That plane, the Model 40, became Boeing’s first mass-produced commercial aircraft. Boeing Air Transport, Inc. was established as part of the sprouting empire, which was to include United Air Lines."

I think that there was an old movie that this model of airplane was in. I can't remember the name of the Movie but I think that Reeves that died a few years ago was in it. Maybe The Aviator, not the one about Howard Hughes. It had an airplane crash of an old airmail plane maybe around Baker City, OR. Anybody ever see it? Or am I explaining a dream I had. Bob

 

[tonycondon]

Addison stopped in Ames on his way across the country. It was pretty cool to visit with him and help push the airplane in the hangar. very nice ship.

 

[Pilawt]

I think that there was an old movie that this model of airplane was in. I can't remember the name of the Movie but I think that Reeves that died a few years ago was in it. Maybe The Aviator, not the one about Howard Hughes. It had an airplane crash of an old airmail plane maybe around Baker City, OR. Anybody ever see it? Or am I explaining a dream I had. Bob

The connection may be that this same Boeing 40 was restored from a wreck that sat in the mountains near Canyonville, Oregon (on I-5 near exit 99 and the Seven Feathers Casino) since 1928.

 

[gprellwitz]

Figured I'd pull a Migaldi here. They make a reference in the movie to its being powered by a Wright J5 engine. IMDB says that they're using an anachronistic Stearman. (But those familiar with Reeves know that he was in another intentionally anachronistic movie, Somewhere in Time).

They had a pretty good sequence coming into Boise through the clouds, with Reeves using a hand-drawn instrument plate a la Jeppesen's early notebook. Of course, he was coming down at better than 1000'/minute with nothing but a whiskey compass for direction!

Oh, Roseanna Arquette does her best to prove that smoking can kill, when she throws a match on the dope-covered fabric of the crashed plane!

I think that there was an old movie that this model of airplane was in. I can't remember the name of the Movie but I think that Reeves that died a few years ago was in it. Maybe The Aviator, not the one about Howard Hughes. It had an airplane crash of an old airmail plane maybe around Baker City, OR. Anybody ever see it? Or am I explaining a dream I had. Bob

Christopher Reeve was in a movie based on Ernest K. Gann's "The Aviator"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088758/

I couldn't find any reference to the Model 40 being used in that movie, but I did come across this info on the man responsible for Boeing producing the 40

http://www.earlyaviators.com/ehubbard.htm

"...in 1927, Eddie Hubbard convinced Boeing to bid for the cross-country mail and passenger route from San Francisco to Chicago. He then convinced the company to resurrect a 1925 mail plane prototype upgraded with a metal body, more powerful engine and build twenty-five for the route. That plane, the Model 40, became Boeing’s first mass-produced commercial aircraft. Boeing Air Transport, Inc. was established as part of the sprouting empire, which was to include United Air Lines."