NC16470, a model F, S/N 2, landed once at Tucson. It arrived on September 6, 1936, flown by John H.H. Pope and passenger Dale M. Myers who identified himself as "co-pilot." Arriving from Lincoln, NB, they cited Tucson as their home base.

Pope and Myers were proud of their airplane, stating in the Register, ""Flying the new low wing Arrow F-V8 (Ford powered). First ship delivered commercially from the factory to the private owner in the United States - September 6, 1936-12:30 PM (first cross country test. Exceeded Factory expectations)." There was no indication in the Register if the new private owner was local to Tucson, or if they were to fly the airplane farther west. Regardless, below, it seems the airplane made its way back to Nebraska later in its life.

Below, courtesy of site visitor Jerry Jensen, are two photographs of NC16470. They appear to be taken at the same location, from opposite directions. Mr. Jensen identifies the airfield as near Wahoo, NB.  Does anyone KNOW the location?

Arrow F, NC16470, Lincoln, NB (?), Pre-1945 (?) (Source: Jensen)

Mr. Jensen says about his photographs, "I was reviewing an album of old family pictures and found two pictures of this airplane.  I can only estimate when and where they were taken.  The back of both pictures were stamped Anderson Studio, Wahoo, NB and I was told my dad was 'giving flying lessons near Lincoln before I was born.'  That could place them near Lincoln and pre 1945."

Arrow F, NC16470, Lincoln, NB (?), Pre-1945 (?) (Source: Jensen)

He further states, "I cannot identify the people in the photos, but it looks to me like they're planning on having some fun flying."

Popular Aviation (PA) magazine, November, 1935, below, cited the availability of this new airplane model. The airplane pictured is not a Register airplane.

Arrow Type, Popular Aviation, November, 1935 (Source: PA)

The Aircraft Year Book had this to say about the Arrow in the 1937 volume (covering the news for 1936):

Aircraft Year Book, 1937, Page 245 (Source: Webmaster)

Mr. Jensen further states that the airplane still exists at the, "Mid Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, PA, which lists the plane as part of their collection of 'Golden-Age' aircraft."

According to Juptner (volume 7, pages 9-12), our airplane was serial number 2, manufactured before September, 1936. A sister ship, built later in 1937 is shown below in Juptner.

(Source: Juptner, v.7,p.9)

Regardless of how Pope and Myers felt about their airplane, according to Juptner it was neither a stellar performer, nor particularly comfortable to fly (the cockpit was so deep, shorter pilots required boost seats to be able to see). Image, below, shows installation of Ford flat head V-8 engine (82HP). Note the carburetor intake, which projected above the cowl.

(Source: Juptner, v.7,p.12)

Interestingly, a 1937 film available online is of a Campbell Model F in demonstration flight. The airplane in the film is NX280Y (not a Register aircraft). Although very different structurally, both the Arrow and Campbell were powered by a Ford V-8 automotive engine. Of all magnesium construction, 280Y was damaged during a demonstration flight and was not rebuilt.

Although the airplane pictured above and below was deregistered with the FAA on April 27, 1948, NC16470 is still a registered entity owned by the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, PA. The FAA listing for it, however, suggests it is a 1980, amateur-built craft with a Chevrolet Corvair engine. Their Web site at the link, however, lists it as the original airframe with the Ford engine. The site posts no photographs.

Surprisingly, Arrow aircraft are logged in all of the six Web sites of Delta Mike Airfield, Inc., with six landings recorded at Clover Field (NC621, NC215K), three at Davis-Monthan (NC9331, NC803M, NC16470), one at the Grand Central Air Terminal (NC813), four at Parks Airport (NC559, NC224K, NC803M, NC559), three at Peterson Field (NC215K, NC4304) and one at Pitcairn Field (NC625).

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Below is a photo of NC16470 lurking behind NC18517. NC164xx can be seen in the original. This photo comes to us from a site visitor who credits it to his great uncle, Sylvan Unsicker. He states about the image, "I've attached the photo of NC18517 and what I believe is NC16470 in the background.... He [his great uncle] and his brother Bill owned NC18517 for a period of time in the early '40s. He'll be turning 97 this year and has barely slowed down. I know that part of the agreement they had when purchasing the plane was that the seller would teach them to fly it."

NC16470 Behind NC18517 (Source: Unsicker)

In this image, a pilot is in the cockpit of 16470 and someone stands near the propeller. Compare the paint scheme on 16470 with the top two images on this page.

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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 05/26/10 REVISED: 09/05/11, 06/30/14, 06/26/19