BIGGER & BETTER
This aircraft was a Fokker Universal “Special”,
S/N 417 (ATC #Gr. 2), manufactured in August 1927 by the
Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, Teterboro Airport, Hasbrouck
Heights, NJ. It left the factory with a 410 HP Pratt & Whitney
Wasp engine, S/N 248. It was a five-place airplane,
weighing 3,830 pounds. It was remodeled by the manufacturer
from ATC #9 to accept the Pratt & Whitney engine. The
engine mount and fuselage were reinforced with more and larger
steel tubes, and the fuselage was lengthened 3’9”.
It sold (under contract) to William H. Dunning, Jr., Ft.
Worth, TX on June 6, 1927. Less than a year later,
on May 21, 1928, Dunning sold it to the Stoody Company, Whittier,
CA for $22,000. The Stoody Company was a welding equipment
manufacturer, and NC1565 was used for executive transport. Below, courtesy of the San Diego Aerospace Museum Flickr Stream (SDAM), is a photograph of the Stoody Company's exhibit at Mines Field at the 1928 National Air Races in Los Angeles, CA. Just below the banner sign, I believe, is a small photograph of NC1565.
Stoody Company Exhibit, Los Angeles, CA, 1928 (Source: SDAM)
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The company's gas welding equipment is displayed in this photograph. The "STOODITE" sign refers to a type of alloyed welding rod that is still available today. Various alloy mixtures are available, e.g. Stoodite 1, Stoodite 12, Stoodite 21, which have different strength and temperature characteristics. Note the "Snap On" tool sign at right, and the display of Bluepoint hand tools manufactured by the company to this day.
In the corporate transport role, we find NC1565 landing twice at Tucson. The
first time, on May 16, 1928, it was flown by Lt. J.T. Hutchison. He
carried three passengers, including M.L. Stoody, Mike Hogg
and one whose name is unreadable in the Register. This
visit was just days before the official sale date closing of the
airplane. They were westbound from Ft. Worth to Los
Angeles, CA. This could have been the ferry flight to the new owner. Below, courtesy of SDAM, is an undated photograph of NC1565 wearing Stoody livery.
Fokker Universal NC1565, Date & Location Unknown (Source: SDAM)
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The second landing was on October 31, 1928. The pilot
was Vernon Dorrell, carrying four passengers (Ralph Willis,
J.C. Blake and Blake’s wife and child). They were
also westbound from El Paso, TX to Los Angeles.
NC1565 suffered an accident early in 1929 at Whittier, CA. According
to the NASM record, it received “major damage”,
but was repaired and relicensed. It was sold by Stoody
on June 21, 1929 to Continental Air Express, Inc., Los Angeles,
CA.
On August 8, 1930, the airplane sold to Bob Lloyd and W.
Upward (a fine name for an aircraft owner!), North Hollywood,
CA. It was sold to satisfy a lien against Continental
Air Express held by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation at
Los Angeles Metro Airport.
According to the NASM record, the airplane was “in
poor shape during 1931”, and the CAA recommended suspension
of its license until a new wing was installed. The
airplane was rebuilt and relicensed as of October 5, 1931.
NC1565 was sold again on November 16, 1934 to Floyd O. Bowman,
Southgate, CA, again on June 4, 1936 to O.A. Kier and I.L.
Howard, Los Angeles, CA, and finally to Franklin L. Obenhaus,
Long Beach, CA on January 16, 1939.
NC1565 suffered an accident on August 8, 1939 near Lamont,
CA. It was “washed out” during a landing
on an unlighted strip during a nighttime passenger operation. No
further information.
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UPLOADED: 07/07/06 REVISED: 12/07/14, 01/02/15, 01/16/20
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