The Pabco Pacific Flyer.
FLIGHT POSITION: 7, which was revised to 3.
PILOT:
Major Livingston G. Irving, who flew a Nieuport Scout with the Lafayette
Escadrille in World War I, was the first flyer to announce his entry in
the air race.
SPONSOR:
The
Paraffine Company of Berkeley, California, who was the employer of Major
Irving.
AIRCRAFT:
Breese
5 monoplane. It was one of the four airplanes in the air race to have a
radio. Livingston Irving later bought this airplane from the Paraffine
Company, for $10.00, on March 8, 1928, and renamed it the Irving Cabin
Monoplane. He had it modified, increasing its fuselage by 8 inches
and its wingspan by 5 feet, and later sold it to the Pacific Finance Corporation,
for $2,000, on June 10, 1929, after it had 558 hours of flight time.
COLOR:
Black
fuselage with a orange wing and a picture of an indian head on its sides,
which was the symbol of the Lafayette Escadrille.
ENGINE:
220-horsepower Wright Whirlwind J-5 engine.
MAXIMUM
SPEED: 110 mph.
FUEL CAPACITY:
380 gallons.
WINGSPAN:
41 feet.
LENGTH:
27 feet.
REGISTRATION:
NX646.
RACE RESULTS: This airplane took off at 12:01 p.m., aborted its flight on the runway and then crashed on its second takeoff attempt at 1:20 p.m. The airplane may have been overloaded with fuel on both takeoff attempts.
|
The Pabco Pacific Flyer. |
|
|
|