A FERRY FLIGHT TO MEXICO

NR7092 is a Bach 3-CT-5 Air Yacht. It landed once at Tucson, Saturday, August 11, 1934. It was flown by George Farnham. He carried four passengers identified as Cleve Moore, Buddy Woodside, Mrs. Liddle and Mrs. Shields. Based at Glendale, CA, they were eastbound from there to Brownsville, TX. Farnham noted in the Remarks column of the Register, "Hungry pilots, sick passengers."

Below, from Rob Bach (cited, right sidebar) is a side view of NC7092. Note the difference in registration number: "NC" vs. "NR." In this image, the left engine nacelle has "W.C.A.T. CO." lettered on it, and the fuselage is lettered with "WEST COAST AIR TRANSPORT CO." W.C.A.T. CO. was established during 1927 in Portland OR. As with many small airlines of the period, it merged with another, Western Air Express, during 1929.

Bach NC7092, Date & Location Unknown (Source: Bach)

The registration number as flown by Farnham to Tucson was a restricted ("NR") ferry number. 7092 is S/N 2, AND formerly NC4184. This can be confusing, as the first two airplanes Bach built went through several iterations and FIVE N numbers.

George Farnham was the owner of the airplane at the time of its Tucson visit (acquiring it in July of 1934) during this ferry flight to Mexico where the airplane would be sold and become XB-AJH. It then went to work for a mining company in the state of Durango. Farnham would become a Braniff pilot in 1935.

In an email from aviation author Steve Nagle, he quotes Farnham from his notes about NR7092. Farnham's notes place the airplane in Tucson and through to Brownsville on their way to Mexico. There is no indication what the passengers did in Mexico or Guatamala, or how they got back to the U.S.

Farnham writes, "I flew various jobs, one of them to deliver a tri-motor Bach to a company at Villa Hermosa, Mexico.  Villa Hermosa is in Tabasco State near the Guatamala border. One of the rum runners of the Los Angeles area had decided that his luck had been pushed about to the limit. The Border Patrol did knock over some of the rummies once in a while, so he put his tri-motor on the sale list. The company in Mexico was operated by an American, Peck Woodside [same person as "Buddy Woodside," Farnham's passenger?], also an old friend of mine. Peck sent me a cablegram asking that I use my judgment in buying a plane for him, preferably a tri-motor Bach.  Knowing of the rum runner pilot that wanted to get out of the business while the getting was good, I contacted him and made a deal for his plane, knowing that the plane was in tip-top condition I did not make an elaborate inspection, did test hop it and then paid the man his price and flew the plane to Grand Central Air Terminal where we loaded several hundred pounds of 'spare parts' also for the operation in Mexico."

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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 11/09/10 REVISED: 11/18/10, 10/01/11