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STINSON MODEL U NC432M
INSTRUCTIONAL AIRFRAME
This tri-motor transport airplane is a Stinson Model U (S/N
9000; ATC #GR 2-413) manufactured on March 30, 1932 by the
Stinson Aircraft Corporation, Wayne, MI. It was the first of the Model U series of 23 examples to be manufactured. NC432M left the factory with three Lycoming R-680 BA engines (S/Ns
L 695; R 696; C 697) of 240 HP each. It was an eleven-place
airplane (two pilots), weighing 9,000/ 9,300 pounds gross. Its “stub” wings
(sesquiplane) sometimes resulted in this aircraft being referred
to as a biplane. You may see an image of this airplane on
this page. Another image is on the first page of this article published in the Journal of the American Aviation Historical Society, Spring, 2013. Entitled, "The Stinson Model U Trimotor of 1932," (PDF 814Kb) the article summarizes the manufacture, use and technical aspects of the model.
NC432M was the prototype of the series, and was registered “NX” initially
to develop servo controls and automatic ailerons. It
was flown by the company until it was sold. An image of this
airplane is available here.
The airplane landed on August 22, 1932 piloted by Robert
W. Cantwell. He listed as passengers “Four Modocs” (note
*, left sidebar). Based in Detroit, MI, they were eastbound
from Los Angeles,
CA to Cleveland, OH. In the Remarks
column of the Register, Cantwell noted, "Riding herd
on Cord Cup Race". The National Air Races
for 1932 began in Los Angeles and, except for the trans-continental
events, which went to NY) terminated at Cleveland. A couple
of our pilots also landed about the same time as
Cantwell. See the pages for Jean
LaRene and Bob
Buck.
Although “NC” is clearly written by Cantwell
in the Register, the NASM record states that the NX certification
was in effect until December 15, 1933. Regardless,
the “NX” certification period was not allowed
to expire. The NASM record says the registration was
approved for “NC” on August 27, 1933 as an eleven-place
transport airplane.
The airplane sold on May 2, 1934 to Licon Airways, Inc.,
Islip, NY. There is nothing in the record that suggests
what Licon Airways did with the airplane, or how it was maintained.
Less than a year later, on March 23, 1935, NC432M was sold
to R.L. Baker, St. Petersburg, FL. As of May 7, 1936,
Mr. Baker had the 240 HP Lycoming engines replaced with three
engines of 215 HP.
On September 4, 1937, the airplane was sold to National
Airlines, Inc., St. Petersburg, FL. The wings were
rebuilt and re-covered, and the fuselage top and bottom were
re-covered as of September 9, 1939. National sold it
to Dexter Eugene Richmond and James Fred Wood on February
17, 1941. There was no address listed for Richmond
and Wood, but they probably lived in Florida.
In answer to an FAA enquiry, Richmond and Wood stated in
their letter of February 4, 1948 that the, “…airplane
had been sold in March, 1942 to a government school at the
airport in Dunnellon, Fla. as an instructional airframe.” No
further information.
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UPLOADED: 04/08/06 REVISED: 09/25/07, 07/28/14
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