Registration Number NC7203
Mountains
This aircraft is a Ryan B-1 Brougham, S/N 150 (ATC #25).
It shares lineage with the “Spirit of St. Louis”,
but was built during the following year. The B.F. Mahoney
Aircraft Co., San Diego, CA manufactured it on August 24, 1928. It
was equipped with a 220 HP Wright J-5A Whirlwind engine, S/N
B-9022. It weighed 3,300 pounds.
It was sold on August 17, 1928 to Sara L. Lloyd (Mrs. Griffith Lloyd)
of Denver, CO. It transferred on September 10, 1928 to Lloyd-Mosier Air
Commerce, Inc., of Chicago, IL and Colorado Springs, CO. It
was designated for, “special scenic trips out of Chicago
and Colorado Springs.”
Now comes NC7203 to Tucson on August 20, 1928. It was piloted by
Red Mosier with Mrs. Lloyd and W. Cortelyou as passengers.
They were eastbound from San Diego to San Antonio, TX. It
is highly probable that the proud owners of this brand new
airplane were in the midst of a ferry flight from the factory
in San Diego.
A little over a year later, on November 26, 1929, Lloyd-Mosier sold
the airplane to Pike’s Peak Air Commerce, Inc. of Colorado
Springs. From the timing of the sale, this could have been
a reduction of inventory in response to the stock market crash
the month before. Pike’s Peak Air kept the airplane
for about two years and sold it to William Wahl of Laramie,
WY who, a month later sold it to Mountain Airways Corp. of
Laramie.
Below, a 1932-33 photograph of NC7203, courtesy of the San Diego Air & Space Museum Flickr stream. The photo caption from that site states, "B-1 before charter flight with group from Wyoming Univerity Extension Department. Individuals were dropped off in several towns to teach classes, then returned to Laramie. c/n 150 n/c 7203." The livery appears to be that of Mountain Airways.
Ryan NC7203, Ca. 1932-33 (Source: SDAM)
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Mountain Airways made a good business with the airplane,
keeping it flying until at least 1940. Along the way, it moved
from Laramie to Rawlins to Cheyenne and had its dings and
bends from flying in the mountains. It suffered an accident
October 13, 1932 at Laramie that required, “spliced front spar,
ten wing ribs rebuilt, right lower fuselage longeron replaced,
rudder and tail wheel straightened, right front wing strut
rebuilt, glass in windshield replaced, gas tank repaired,
Bendix wheels and brakes installed, wing and fuselage re-covered.”
NC7203 suffered another accident at Splitrock, WY on November 15, 1935.
No details of damage or injuries. In August 1939 the airplane
had accumulated 864:54 flight hours. The registration and
airworthiness certificates were issued to expire November 1, 1941,
but no further information was forthcoming from the owners.
The certificates were cancelled upon expiration.
UPLOADED: 07/09/05 REVISED: 03/25/10, 06/02/23
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