FORD 5-AT-B NC9641

TO COSTA RICA

This airplane is a Ford 5-AT-B tri-motor (S/N 5-AT-19; ATC # 156) manufactured in January 1929 by the Stout Metal Airplane Company (Division of Ford Motor Company), Dearborn, MI.  It came from the factory with three Pratt & Whitney Wasp engines (S/Ns L 1051, R 1052, C 1050) of 400 HP each.  It weighed 13,250 pounds.

It sold on March 6, 1929 to Maddux Air Lines, Los Angeles, CA. We find NC9641 at Tucson once, mid-morning on March 8, 1929 flown by John Guglielmetti.  He carried Les Rhodda, his mechanic, as the only passenger.  They were westbound from Detroit, MI to Los Angeles, undoubtedly flying the airplane from the factory on its maiden voyage out west. NC9641 serves as the poster plane in an illustration that appeared on a Maddux Air Lines advertisement, below. This and other images are available at the link on Flickr. That image is posted on the airplane's Web page out west on the Grand Central Air Terminal (GCAT) Web site. On Sunday, December 21, 1930, NC9641 was logged in the GCAT Register. The pilot was Frederic Whitney.

Ford NC9641, Maddux Advertisement, Ca. 1930 (Source: Link)

On April 21, 1931 the airplane was sold to Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc., Wilimington, DE.  It had a “Hi-speed” modification on May 13, 1931 during its air line duties. It was flown by TWA until February 17, 1936, when it was sold to Leslie G. Mulzer of Columbus, OH.  Mulzer operated the Mulzer Flying Service, Inc. at Norton Field in Columbus.  He flew the airplane three years.

In March 1939 it was sold to Aerovias Nacionales, San Jose, Costa Rica.  There was no bill of sale.  No further information.

UPLOADED: 04/01/06 REVISED: 05/25/17