|
MOHAWK MLV PINTO 395
FINAL DESTINATION: TUCSON
This aircraft is a Mohawk Pinto MLV, S/N 121 (ATC #?) manufactured
in November, 1928 by the Mohawk Aircraft Corp., Minneapolis,
MN. It left the factory with a 45 HP Velie engine,
S/N 1104. It was a two-place airplane. There
was no application made for an “NC” registration,
therefore the registration is simply “395”.
The airplane was manufactured as a factory demonstrator
and was never sold to a public entity. In fact, an
affidavit from the factory on November 24, 1928 states that, “Velie
engine c/n 1104 originally installed in Mohawk Pinto MLV
c/n 113 (Ident. # -7199). This airplane never left
the factory or has been flown. Engine is to be installed
in c/n 121.”
Less than two months later, on January 14, 1929, the airplane
landed at Tucson. Based at Minneapolis, MN, it arrived
westbound from Lordsburg, NM flown by H.W. Sheridan accompanied
by Mrs. Sheridan. They arrived at 5:30 PM. At
that time of year there was little to no daylight left.
The NASM record for 395 shows a sad final disposition for
the airplane. It suffered an accident at Tucson on
January 14, 1929, killing its pilot, H.M. O’Toole (transport
license # 4068) and one passenger. The airplane was
demolished and scrapped. There is mention of the passenger's
name. There was still no record that it was sold to anyone.
Pilot O’Toole had landed at Tucson a few months earlier,
flying Mohawk MLV 7296. He
was probably interested to see another Mohawk at Tucson,
because it was a relatively rare brand. We can hear
him compare notes with Sheridan about the flying characteristics
of the little airplane, and ask if might fly it, “just
for the feel of it.”
It was dark. A takeoff in Tucson at the time would
have resulted in rapid loss of horizontal reference as the
dark sky blended with the dark mountains. There was
no recovery from the ensuing stall and spin. Alternatively,
the airplane had a long flight from Lordsburg and it may
have been very low on gas. If it was not refueled before
O'Toole's flight, it could easily have run out of gas. Refer
to this
link and
scroll down a couple of images to see the immediate aftermath
of the crash. The lack of fire suggests it may have run out
of fuel.
In the Register the departure date and destination columns
remain eerily empty for 395.
THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 04/09/06 REVISED: 02/11/07
|
