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There is no data for NC2K in the archives of the National Air & Space Museum (NASM), Washington, DC. The reason being that it is still registered with the FAA.

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OTHER RESOURCES

THANK YOU!

YOUR PURCHASE OF THESE BOOKS SUPPORTS THE WEB SITES THAT BRING TO YOU THE HISTORY BEHIND OLD AIRFIELD REGISTERS

Your copy of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register with all the pilots' signatures and helpful cross-references to pilots and their aircraft is available at the link. Or use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.

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The Congress of Ghosts is an anniversary celebration for 2010.  It is an historical biography, that celebrates the 5th year online of www.dmairfield.org and the 10th year of effort on the project dedicated to analyze and exhibit the history embodied in the Register of the Davis-Monthan Airfield, Tucson, AZ. This book includes over thirty people, aircraft and events that swirled through Tucson between 1925 and 1936. It includes across 277 pages previously unpublished photographs and texts, and facsimiles of personal letters, diaries and military orders. Order your copy at the link.

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Military Aircraft of the Davis Monthan Register, 1925-1936 is available at the link. This book describes and illustrates with black & white photographs the majority of military aircraft that landed at the Davis-Monthan Airfield between 1925 and 1936. The book includes biographies of some of the pilots who flew the aircraft to Tucson as well as extensive listings of all the pilots and airplanes. Use this FORM to order a copy signed by the author, while supplies last.

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Art Goebel's Own Story by Art Goebel (edited by G.W. Hyatt) is written in language that expands for us his life as a Golden Age aviation entrepreneur, who used his aviation exploits to build a business around his passion.  Available as a free download at the link.

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Winners' Viewpoints: The Great 1927 Trans-Pacific Dole Race is available at the link. What was it like to fly from Oakland to Honolulu in a single-engine plane during August 1927? Was the 25,000 dollar prize worth it? Did the resulting fame balance the risk? For the first time ever, this book presents the pilot and navigator's stories written by them within days of their record-setting adventure. Pilot Art Goebel and navigator William V. Davis, Jr. take us with them on the Woolaroc, their orange and blue Travel Air monoplane (NX869) as they enter the hazardous world of Golden Age trans-oceanic air racing.

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Clover Field: The First Century of Aviation in the Golden State. With the 100th anniversary in 2017 of the use of Clover Field as a place to land aircraft in Santa Monica, this book celebrates that use by exploring some of the people and aircraft that made the airport great.

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FAIRCHILD F-71 NC2K

This airplane is a 1929 Fairchild F-71, S/N 675. Below is an image of NC2K dated 1961 available at the link.

 

Fairchild 71 NC2K in 1961 (Source: Link)

Below, from the Journal of the American Aviation Historical Society (AAHS), Spring, 2013, is a photograph of NC2K from 1971.

Fairchild F-71 NC2K, Ca. 1971 (Source: AAHS)
Fairchild F-71 NC2K, Ca. 1971 (Source: AAHS)

NC2K landed three times at Tucson. The first was on Sunday July 31, 1932. It was flown by Leo E. Mulcahey who carried as sole passenger C.W. Quinton. Based at San Francisco, CA they arrived from Riverside, CA, March Field enroute to Douglas, AZ. No purpose was stated for their flight. However, the present owner of the airplane states, "For approx. 34 yrs., between 1932 or so and 1955, N2K was operated by Fairchild Aerial Surveys.  Often it was flown from its base at Hollywood Burbank Airport to far flung destinations for aerial mapping purposes, many times to the east coast. I imagine that on those occasions when it landed at Tucson NC2K was on her way to a job in the East."

We know that Mulcahey earlier participated (perhaps not as a competitor) in the Ford Reliability Tour of 1928. You can see him on page 78 of this document in a group photograph taken at the time of the race.

Mulcahey landed again on September 9 or 10, 1932 (interpolated from the Register) carrying five unidentified passengers. Still based at San Francisco, he was westbound from Cleveland, OH to an unnamed destination. The National Air Races were held at Cleveland from August 27 - September 5, 1932. We can conjecture that Mulcahey was on his way back to the west coast from attending the Races.

The airplane's final landing at Tucson was somewhere between June 5 and June 13, 1934 (again, interpolated from the Register). The pilot was Los Angeles-based C.J. Holms. He noted in the Register no passengers . Neither did he cite a destination, nor purpose for his trip.

A site visitor points out a curious and spectacular finding regarding this airplane. It appears in "The Perils of Pauline" (1933) with Evalyn Knapp (a twelve part serial) in episodes six (Pursued by Savages) and seven (Tracked by the Enemy).  The film shows people boarding/deplaning and takeoff/landing sequences (off road and on) as well as some flybys.

It also appears in a chapter of the "Ace Drummond" serial from 1936. In episode 1, (link is inop as of 6/2/23) at exactly six minutes and 15 seconds into the movie, you can see NC2K crash. If you stop the action you can clearly see the registration number on the top of the right wing as it folds against a tree. Given that this airplane is still flying (right sidebar), it is clear from the movie that it must have undergone an aggressive rebuild! Either that, or the crash scene involved a model that was painted to look like NC2K. If you find any other links broken, please let me KNOW.

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UPLOADED: 01/06/09 REVISED: 05/13/12, 07/28/14, 06/02/23

 
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I'm looking for additional photographs and information about this airplane and pilot Mulcahey to include on this page. If you have some you'd like to share, please use this FORM to contact me.

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This airplane was flying as of 1961. There is a good chance that it is still flying. It is owned by a couple in Lodi, CA.

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