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CURTISS-ROBERTSON ROBIN C NC386E
Touring Plane
This airplane is a Curtiss-Robertson Robin, Model C, S/N
184 (ATC# 69) manufactured during February 1929 by the Curtiss-Robertson
Airplane Manufacturing Company, Anglum, MO. It left
the factory with a Challenger engine of 170 HP, S/N 34. It
was a three-place airplane, weighing 2,440 pounds. It
sold the same month to the Curtiss Flying Service, Inc.,
Garden City, NY.
NC386E landed at the Davis-Monthan
Airfield on May 6, 1929
flown by Robb C. Oertel. He carried a single passenger,
C.O. Bedford. He was in a flight of three, along with
Ruth Nichols in her Curtiss Fledgling NC5404, and Charles
M. Taylor in his Command-Aire, number 609 (no indication
of NC, NX, or NR).
The three pilots were participating in a national Aviation
Country Clubs Tour that spring. Follow the Nichols
link for a tour map. They arrived at Tucson at 3:05
PM, stayed overnight, and departed for Yuma as a group at
8:30 the next morning.
As an interesting digression, I present for your amusement
the image, below, of a fuel receipt from Albany, NY. Notice
the aircraft numbers. It is not clear if the “tour” referred
to on the receipt is the present one (and this is a delayed
payment transaction), or if Oertel and Nichols were participating
in another tour that fall. Regardless,
the pilots among you will appreciate the low cost of gasoline. Aviation
gasoline is selling for $3.50-$4.50 per gallon at the upload
date at the bottom of this page.
Our airplane was to have a brief history. NC386E suffered
an accident at Garden City, NY on December 24, 1929, Christmas
Eve. The airplane stalled at an altitude insufficient
to recover, and dived into the ground. The student
pilot, Allen N. Van Hagen of Brooklyn, NY and one passenger,
Otto A. Kafka, suffered no injuries. The airplane was
a “washout”,
with the engine being only partly salvaged. The registration
was cancelled January 16, 1930.
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UPLOADED: 08/29/06 REVISED:
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