|
This airplane appears in the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register twice, on Saturday, April 20, 1929 and on Friday, May 10, 1929. Both times it was flown by Captain Hugh Merle Elmendorf. Elmendorf was killed in a crash in 1933 while flight testing an experimental fighter near Wright Field, Ohio. Elmendorf Air Force Base, adjacent to the city of Anchorage, AK, was named after him .
Elmendorf did not cite his itinerary on April 20th, but on May 10th he was eastbound from San Diego, CA, Rockwell Field to El Paso, TX.
Below, two images of 29-355. Notice in the top photograph the squadron number "1" has not yet been applied, suggesting this photo was taken when the airplane was new in 1929. Another image of this new airplane on this site is in the Cosgrove Collection.
Boeing P-12, 29-355, Date & Location Unknown
 |
Boeing P-12, 29-355, Date & Location Unknown
 |
According to Joe Baugher's site, 29-353 to 361 were Boeing P-12s, c/n 1100 to 1108. Interestingly, most of that series, 29-353, 29-354, 29-356 29-357, 29-359 and 29-361, are Register airplanes.
---o0o---
77th Pursuit Squadron Insignia
 |
Site visitor Arthur Sevigny cites the following about the airplane (Mr. Sevigney is the historian for the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw AFB, SC), "29-355 was assigned to the 77th Pursuit Squadron formed at Mather Fld, CA assigned to the New 20th Pursuit Group. The following is from the Nov 1939 squadron history report.
'The Seventy Seventh Pursuit Squadron was originally constituted on the inactive list in 1927 as the Seventy Seventh Observation Squadron. In 1929 it was redesignated as the Seventy Seventh Pursuit Squadron. On November 15, 1930 it was organized at Mather Field, California, as the first tactical unit of the Twentieth Pursuit Group and came into being as an actual combat unit of four (4) Officers, 1st Lieut. Walter E. Richards commanding, and eighty four (84) enlisted men who were transferred from Kelly Filed and Brooks Field, Texas - Mitchell Field, New York - Langley Field, Virginia and March Field, California, and one (1) P-12B Airplane #29-355. In January 1931, three (3) additional P-12B’s and four (4) DH’s were assigned to the squadron.'"
You may download the complete 1939 squadron history report here (PDF 610KB). This three-page report is pixilated, but readable.
Below, also from Mr. Sevigny, is a clear profile of the airplane when it was new. He sent a high-resolution original and the small, white decal on the wheel says "Bendix". The identical photograph from a different source is here at the Cosgrove Collection. The squadron insignia, above left, the meaning of which is described in the history report, is from here.
Boeing P-12, 29-355, Ca. 1929
 |
Also readable are the aircraft data stenciled on the fuselage just under the cockpit. The placard reads:
Boeing P-12, Stenciled Aircraft Data
INCIDENCE ....................................0°
DIHEDRAL LOWER...................... 2°
STAGGER ................................32 IN.
STABILIZER ANGLE ADJ ... +2° -4°
WEIGHT EMPTY ...........1749.2 LBS
CREW ..................................180 LBS
FUEL ....................................195 LBS
OIL ..........................................30 LBS
ARMAMENT .....................179.8 LBS
EQUIPMENT ......................90.5 LBS
TOTAL ............................2524.5 LBS |
The 1:1 ratio of pilot weight to armament is far surpassed by modern military aircraft. I have no further information regarding 29-355. Does anyone KNOW its fate?
---o0o---
UPLOADED: 02/03/09 REVISED: 05/01/09
|
