"Air Mail" (1932)

[JDDavis2]

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IMDB: "Air Mail" (1932)...the first movie in history to feature an airplane flying through a hangar...
...performed by Paul Mantz at Bishop, California.

JD: Two airplanes went through the hangar in the movie

... a Travel Air Model 16K...NC448W





...and a Stearman C-3...NC4099 with an on-board camera....





The Stearman and the low-slung camera.

(L to R) Paul Mantz, pilot...Karl Freund, director of photography...Elmer Dyer, camera...Jimmy James, pilot...John Ford, director.



FULL MOVIE on youtube (aerobatics and hangar 19:00 thru 23:00)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaWs9xSSCeg

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[JDDavis2]

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The Travel Air, (Elmer Dyer still photo)

image source: snappygoat public domain images

[JDDavis2]

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...the Stearman C-3...

post- stearman composit.jpg

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[aerovin2]

Looking at registration records and the completed film, I think the Travel Air is actually NC446H vs. NC448H.

NC446W was Travel Air 16-K assigned in 1931
NC448W was Curtiss Wright 15N assigned in 1931, cancelled 1943

A close look of the aerial scenes suggests the former.

Thoughts?

[JDDavis2]

Best screen grabs with Photoshop enhancement I could get from the "Air Mail" movie ...

The Travel Air looks like NC448W to me (8 not 6)...what do you think ?

"The Aircraft Spotters Film and Television companion" (2016) says the Travel Air in "Air Mail" was a model 16-K NC446W (6 not

...and the Stearman in "Air Mail" was a C2B NC4099, not a C-3 NC4099

JD
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SFW-1-Air-Mail-Travel-Air-0.jpg

SFW-2-439.jpg

[aerovin2]

To me, viewing the moving footage it appears to be a "6" and, beyond that, I don't see how it could be an "8" based on the registration records. But that's me.