This airplane, S/N 3295, landed once at Tucson, Wednesday, June 5, 1935 at 8:35AM. It was flown by Dr. Boy Norfleet Collier. A photograph of the airplane is at Collier's link. Based at Shelton, WA, he was eastbound from Yuma, AZ to Lordsburg, NM. He carried his wife and two children (son B.N., Jr. and daughter Winnifred) as passengers. The airplane, manufactured June 16, 1930, was purchased second-hand and owned by Collier for just a few months before we see him at Tucson. Below, courtesy of Collier's daughter Winnifred, is a photograph of Collier in his airplane.
Boy Norfleet Collier at the Controls of His Waco KNF, NC109Y (Source: Ringhoffer via Woodling)
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Below, courtesy of site contributor Andy Heins (cited, right sidebar), is the two-page factory Airplane Sales and Inspection Record for NC109Y. The document summarizes how the airplane was equipped when delivered new in 1930, as well as a cursory description of its upgrades and chain of custody on page 2.
Waco KNF, NC109Y Airplane Sales and Inspection Record (Source: Heins)
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Painted Vermillion and Silver, this was a very attractive airplane when it was new.
Waco KNF, NC109Y Airplane Sales and Inspection Record (Source: Heins)
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NC109Y was originally sold to the Tex Rankin School of Flying. Rankin was also a west coast Waco distributor. After a couple of years with Rankin, NC109Y was passed to Palm Springs Airline, then to Ruth O. Bergen (1898-1997) on July 15, 1933. Collier acquired it March 15, 1935, just a few months before he brought it and his family through Tucson.
If you direct your browser to Collier's page at the link above, you'll find out that he crashed the airplane in Texas soon after he signed the Register at Tucson. It must have been repaired, because it was flying at least until 1945, according to the transfer record above.
Curiously, an odd disjunction between dates appears if you compare the date Collier signed the Register and crashed the airplane in Texas with the date of transfer of the airplane to J. Bristow on May 1, 1935. How or why was the airplane transferred to Bristow two weeks before Collier flew it to Texas? And why were there three transfers of the airplane on that date? This is a mystery to me. Can anyone HELP figure this one out?
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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 04/14/12 REVISED: 06/11/23
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