Tucson Citizen, July 2, 1928 (Source: AZ Historical Society)

"Tell that crowd if they wanta see us land to come back next Tuesday. We gonna stay up another hundred. "

Loren Mendell & R.B. Reinhart, July, 1929

NC3763 visited Tucson twice. The first time was Monday, March 12, 1928. It was flown by Bob Blair carrying two unidentified passengers. Based at Los Angeles, CA, they arrived from Marysville, CA at 3:00PM. They remained overnight in Tucson, departing the next morning at 4:45AM for Los Angeles.

The second landing was piloted by Jack Frye on Monday, July 2, 1928. He carried as passengers, "None in - one out." Frye identified the flight as "Airline." This flight was documented in the Tucson Citizen of July 8, 1928, as can be seen immediately right. Although Frye did not record his arrival from or destination information in the Register, we learn it from the newspaper.

The Davis-Monthan Airfield was an important place during the time of the Register, with local media tracking flights and personalities as in the article. Other VIP Register signers besides Frye are James Dickson (carrying the Culver family), Lt. Hoyt Vandenburg, Hap Russell and D.M. Myers (note the typo in the newspaper). This column was a regular feature of the Citizen, and is a useful adjunct to the Register.

NC3763 had one major shining moment. About a year after it visited us in Tucson, NC3763, then named Angeleno, was used to establish an endurance record by Register pilots Loren W. Mendell and Roland B. Reinhart. Below, courtesy of the San Diego Aerospace Museum Flickr Stream (SDAM), is an undated photograph of NR3763 (note that the Angeleno wore the "NR" -- restricted -- registration number for this flight). It appears to be climbing, perhaps at the beginning of its endurance record, or during an earlier test flight.

NR3763, "Angelino," Ca. July, 1929 (Source: SDAM)

Below, from Mike Gerow, is another photograph of the Angeleno during that endurance flight. It shows Mendel/Reinhart's Angeleno being refueled in flight by their Curtiss Carrier Pigeon "aerial tanker" NR35K. Mike says the photo is, ".... from P. 203 of 'Spudding In: Recollections of Pioneer Days in the California Oil Fields' by William Rintoul, California Historical Society, Valley Publishers, Fresno, Calif. 1978. The photo is courtesy of the Atlantic Richfield Company, and the caption notes that 'making fuel for airplanes captured the imagination of refiners. When 'Angeleno' set a new endurance record in July, 1929, Richfield's 'aerial service station' refueled the Angeleno in midair thirty-one times.'"

Buhl Airsedan, R3763, July, 1929 (Source: Gerow)

Below, from the New York Times of July 11, 1929, the flyers are captured near the end of their flight. The banner headline reads, "CALIFORNIA PLANE STILL UP AT 207th HOUR."

Flight of Mendell, Reinhart & Angeleno, New York Times, July 11, 1929 (Source: NYT)

The article continues below with photographs. It's interesting to learn that their epic flight was planned in a cafe in Juarez.

Flight of Mendell, Reinhart & Angeleno, New York Times, July 11, 1929 (Source: NYT)

Below, from this REFERENCE (p. 82) is a photograph of the airplane as well as a summary of the record flight.

Buhl NC3763 Record Information (Source: Plehinger)

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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 07/20/11 REVISED: 07/23/11, 12/03/14