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THANK YOU!

YOUR PURCHASE OF THESE BOOKS SUPPORTS THE WEB SITES THAT BRING TO YOU THE HISTORY BEHIND OLD AIRFIELD REGISTERS

Your copy of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register with all the pilots' signatures and helpful cross-references to pilots and their aircraft is available at the link. Or use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.

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http://www.cafepress.com/content/global/img/spacer.gifThe Congress of Ghosts is an anniversary celebration for 2010.  It is an historical biography, that celebrates the 5th year online of www.dmairfield.org and the 10th year of effort on the project dedicated to analyze and exhibit the history embodied in the Register of the Davis-Monthan Airfield, Tucson, AZ. This book includes over thirty people, aircraft and events that swirled through Tucson between 1925 and 1936. It includes across 277 pages previously unpublished photographs and texts, and facsimiles of personal letters, diaries and military orders. Order your copy at the link.

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Military Aircraft of the Davis Monthan Register, 1925-1936 is available at the link. This book describes and illustrates with black & white photographs the majority of military aircraft that landed at the Davis-Monthan Airfield between 1925 and 1936. The book includes biographies of some of the pilots who flew the aircraft to Tucson as well as extensive listings of all the pilots and airplanes. Use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.

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Art Goebel's Own Story by Art Goebel (edited by G.W. Hyatt) is written in language that expands for us his life as a Golden Age aviation entrepreneur, who used his aviation exploits to build a business around his passion.  Available as a free download at the link.

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Winners' Viewpoints: The Great 1927 Trans-Pacific Dole Race is available at the link. What was it like to fly from Oakland to Honolulu in a single-engine plane during August 1927? Was the 25,000 dollar prize worth it? Did the resulting fame balance the risk? For the first time ever, this book presents the pilot and navigator's stories written by them within days of their record-setting adventure. Pilot Art Goebel and navigator William V. Davis, Jr. take us with them on the Woolaroc, their orange and blue Travel Air monoplane (NX869) as they enter the hazardous world of Golden Age trans-oceanic air racing.

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Clover Field: The First Century of Aviation in the Golden State. With the 100th anniversary in 2017 of the use of Clover Field as a place to land aircraft in Santa Monica, this book celebrates that use by exploring some of the people and aircraft that made the airport great.

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CURTISS F6C-1 HAWK A-6969

A-6969 landed at Tucson once on February 20, 1928 11:45 AM. It was flown on this winter Monday morning by 1st Lt. T.J. Cushman, USMC. He arrived from San Diego, CA. We can picture him warming himself in the hangar; perhaps having a bite to eat. He departed at 1:00 PM eastbound to Quantico, VA.

This airplane is rare among the aircraft signed into the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register, because it still exists. You can see it today on exhibit at the National Museum of Naval Aviation, NAS Pensacola Florida. Follow the link to the website, but don't plan to see an image of our airplane there. It's not posted.

However, I've done better than that. Please follow this link to view a video of this airplane that I took at the Museum on August 12, 2007. The video, and the photographs I took below, will give you a good idea of what a handsome airplane A-6969 really is.

Here is A-6969 as it sits in the Museum today. It shows great lines for an airplane built in 1927. Note the radiator below the propeller and the coolant tank below the fuselage. The top of the upper wing is painted yellow, with the standard U.S. roundel.

Curtiss A-6969, Pensacola,FL
Curtiss A-6969, Pensacola,FL

Below, a few close-ups of the anatomy of a Golden Age U.S. Marine Corps pursuit airplane.

Curtiss A-6969, Front View
Curtiss A-6969, Front View
Curtiss A-6969 Wheel
Curtiss A-6969 Wheel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note the spokes peeking through the holes in the wheel covers. The wheel covers not only protected the spokes and air valve, but also added a small amount of streamlining to the airframe.

Curtiss A-6969 Wheel Hub Detail
Curtiss A-6969 Wheel Detail

 

 

 

 

This view, above, exhibits the radiator very well, and it emphasizes the slimness of the fuselage of this 155 MPH airplane.

 

Curtiss A-6969 Starter Crank & Oil Filler Cap
Curtiss A-6969 Starter & Oil Filler

 

Exhaust Pipes from the Curtiss D-12 Engine
Exhaust Pipes from Curtiss D-12 Engine

 

The registration number, painted on the vertical stabilizer (that's the strut running diagonally on the right). Note the "pinked" edges of the cotton reinforcement tape that has been applied at areas of high stress.

Curtiss A-6969
Curtiss A-6969

Please see the film to help you put all this together.

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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 12/21/07 REVISED:

 
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I'm looking for contemporary (Golden Age) photographs of this airplane as well as images or information about pilot Cushman to include on this page. If you have any you'd like to share, please use this FORM to contact me.

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