CRUNCH AND RUN

This airplane is a Stinson SM-2AB Junior (S/N 1100).  It was manufactured under ATC# 161 by the Stinson Aircraft Corp., Wayne, MI during August 1929.  It left the factory with a single Wright J-5 engine (S/N B-13613) of 220HP.  It was a four-place monoplane.  It sold on August 5, 1929 to Lawrence Elliott of Riverside, CA.  He paid $9,500.

NC458H landed three times at Tucson.  The first time was on Wednesday November 13, 1929 1:00 PM piloted by Bob Crooks carrying as passenger William Robert Elliott (no record of relation to Lawrence Elliott).  They were northwest bound from Lordsburg, NM to Phoenix, AZ.  Crooks noted tersely in the Remarks column of the Register, “Windy”.

The next landing was almost a year later on October 20, 1930 10:15 AM flown by Lawrence Elliott with Mr. & Mrs. W.R. Elliott as passengers.  Based at Los Angeles, CA, they were northbound from Tombstone, AZ. They did not list a final destination. Obviously there is some family relationship with the pilot of the first landing.  Parenthetical note: there is a Lawrence C. Elliott memorialized at this link (note the historic plaque). Is this the same Lawrence Elliott as our pilot?  If you have any information, please let me KNOW.

The third landing was almost four years later on Sunday September 30, 1934 at 1:45 PM.  The pilot was Charles C. Spencer and he carried his wife as passenger. Based at Douglas, AZ, they were southeast bound from Los Angeles to Douglas.

The chain of custody for NC458H is straight-forward.  Lawrence Elliott kept it until May 12, 1932 when he sold it to W.R. Elliott.  He sold it to Monty G. Mason of Los Angeles on July 28, 1933. 

Mason sold it to Miss F. Raidman on August 1, 1933.  A tail wheel assembly was installed ca. August 19, 1933.  She did not have the airplane inspected for relicensing, so the CAA canceled her registration as of December 26, 1933.

Raidman sold the airplane back to Mason on February 23, 1934.  It appears to have been placed at auction and was purchased, along with several other airframes, by William O. Buchanan of Long Beach, CA on June 11, 1934.  Buchanan sold the airplane to aircraft broker Charles H. Babb of Glendale, CA on August 22, 1934.

NC458H went through six more owners between 1934 and February 5, 1940 when it came to John Hans Nagel of Los Angeles.  It suffered an accident on November 9, 1940 at Las Vegas, NV while being flown by Billy Weber (private license 47406).  The pilot apparently made a forced landing on an area where sand had drifted around bushes.  The airplane suffered extensive damage.  Interestingly, Weber called the CAA Communications Section in Las Vegas and, “…hung up before giving NC-number, and promptly left by train for Los Angeles.”  The license was cancelled March 1, 1941 upon expiration of the airworthiness certificate.  No further information.

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Dossier 3.1.34

\UPLOADED: 12/30/07 REVISED: