Stearman C2B C3B NC5084 — 1928 Wichita Open-Cockpit Biplane, Radial Engine Photo For Sale

Stearman C2B C3B NC5084
1928 Wichita Open-Cockpit Biplane, Radial Engine Photo
Aitken Collection — 1979 MDC St. Louis ReprintDESCRIPTIONThis 8x10 black and white photograph shows Stearman biplane NC5084 parked on a bare ramp in a front three-quarter view. The exposed radial engine with its cylinders and rocker boxes, the oleo landing gear, the wire bracing and the NC5084 registration on the rudder are all clearly visible. The upper wing is wider than the lower wing, and the open cockpits sit between the wings. Images were scanned at 600dpi.Registration NC5084 is listed in the Golden Years U.S. civil aircraft register as a Stearman C-2B, serial number 123, with an entry dated April 25, 1928, and FAA records list the same airframe as a C-3B. The register traces it from Stearman to H.J. Barinson to W.S. Bowen of Massachusetts and records it destroyed on August 29, 1937. The print carries no caption, so no photographer, date, location or operator is given, and no connection to a particular owner or flight is claimed.The C-2B and C-3B were closely related Stearman biplanes from the company's first Wichita years. Lloyd Stearman started his company in Venice, California in 1927 and reorganized it in Wichita, Kansas a year later. The C-2B was the most numerous version of the C2 line, a three-place biplane with the pilot aft and two passengers forward, powered by a Wright Whirlwind radial and marketed to sportsmen. At least nine C-2Bs were later brought up to C-3B standard, and the C-3B, which earned Stearman its first type certificate, became the company's bread-and-butter model, popular with sportsman pilots and businessmen. Stearman's factory ran two shifts in 1928 to keep up with demand. The company later became part of Boeing, and its later Model 75 became the Boeing-Stearman Kaydet trainer that taught thousands of American pilots to fly in World War II.A sister ship from the same production run shows what these biplanes were asked to do. Stearman serial 121, registered NC5415, was a C-2B that later became a C-3B. It was in Alaska by mid-1928 and was among the first airplanes to land on Denali in 1932. It is now displayed at the Alaska Aviation Museum in Anchorage. The model's best-known journey was the Flying Carpet, a C-3B flown around the world by Moye Stephens with author Richard Halliburton as passenger, leaving Burbank in December 1930 and returning in June 1932. NC5084 had a shorter record on the register, but it is a well-made period study of the same early Stearman line.This print is a 1979 company reprint made by McDonnell Douglas (MDC) at St. Louis, not an original period print, and it is offered and priced as such. The reverse is stamped MDC ST. LOUIS, SEP 19 1979, NEGATIVES NOT FILED, and carries an owner's address stamp for Donald and Barbara Aitken of Irvine, California. It comes from the Aitken Collection of a longtime United Airlines captain.Donald Aitken was a Navy-trained aviator who flew helicopters and then spent his airline career as a United Airlines captain on the 747, 727, 757, 767 and DC-10, retiring in 1996. He grew up watching planes overhead in rural North Dakota and flew radio-controlled airplanes well into his later years.Every effort is made toward fact checking and provenance, including background research through news and historical archives. If any listing is incorrect in any way and you're unsatisfied with the item, please connect with me and I'll make it right. Orders placed before Noon CDT ship same day via Ground Advantage with tracking so you know exactly when it will arrive. Returns accepted on all items exceeding $25 in cost. All shipments receive rigid, professional packaging, sealed and protected in acid free protectors. Shipping is free and already built into the price, so the BIN price is exactly what you pay, no surprise shipping costs at checkout.CONDITIONBlack and white 8x10 print on cream-toned paper. The image is clean and well detailed, with the NC5084 lettering, engine cylinders, struts and wire bracing readable in the scans. Focus is strongest at the engine and landing gear and softens slightly toward the tail. A few tiny dark specks show in the sky and ground areas, and there is a tiny nick along the right edge of the sheet. No tears, creases or stains are visible in the scans. The reverse carries the blue MDC St. Louis stamp, with its first line partly blotted, and the Aitken owner's address stamp, and the photographic image shows faintly through the paper. Please review all photos closely, as they are part of the description.