1929 Ford Tri-Motor NC8400
Curtis Publishing, Smokejumper Plane 4.50"x2.75"Curtis Publishing's Own Trimotor, Fully DocumentedDESCRIPTIONThis is an original vintage photograph of a Ford Tri-Motor 4-AT-E, registration NC8400, photographed on the tarmac not long after it left the factory in the summer of 1929, please note before offerding that this is a small-format period print, with a mounted card measuring approximately 4 1/2 x 2 3/4 inches overall and an image area of approximately 3 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches.The aircraft is identified on the reverse in period pencil as "4-AT-E" alongside the registration and an old archive number, A.55103, and this Ford 4-AT-E, construction number 4-AT-62, was delivered new in July 1929 to the Curtis Publishing Company of Philadelphia, publisher of The Saturday Evening Post, The Ladies' Home Journal, and The Country Gentleman, all three of which are hand-lettered directly onto the fuselage as a flying advertisement for the company's magazine lineup.The plane was based at Camden, New Jersey and flown for Curtis Publishing by chief pilot Adolphus W. Gorton, a decorated former U.S. Navy aviator who, just months before joining Curtis Publishing, piloted the U.S. Navy's first successful airplane-to-airship "hook-on," docking his biplane in flight with the airship USS Los Angeles off the New Jersey coast in July 1929, and who was later inducted into the Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame. Corporate air travel was still a novelty in 1929, and a company-owned aircraft carrying its owner's name in giant letters doubled as a flying advertisement as much as a means of transportation; Curtis Publishing was one of the largest advertisers in the country that year, with The Saturday Evening Post and Ladies' Home Journal together accounting for roughly forty percent of all magazine advertising sold nationwide, and putting the company's three flagship titles across the fuselage of a highly visible new airplane fit squarely into that culture of bold, image-driven publicity.Four men in suits and straw boater hats, most likely Curtis Publishing or Ford company men rather than flight crew, pose in front of the nose for the camera.This particular airplane also made the newspapers in its own right: in May 1930 it landed at Bowman Field in Louisville, Kentucky, carrying seven passengers among the wave of privately owned aircraft that flew prominent visitors in for the Kentucky Derby, and the wire-service coverage of that weekend singled out Gorton by name as one of the country's outstanding pilots.The surviving flight record does not spell out the purpose of each individual trip, but the documented route between Los Angeles and El Paso in the early 1930s tracks with how large advertisers and publishers of the era increasingly used company aircraft, prioritizing speed over a days-long train trip for executives and sales staff working the West Coast and Southwest.By the early 1930s the aircraft had passed to prominent New York advertising man Arthur H. Kudner, who went on to found his own agency, Arthur Kudner, Inc., in 1935, building it into one of the largest advertising firms in the country with clients including General Motors and Goodyear.The aircraft's later story has a survivor's ending, and a genuine second act. By the late 1930s and into the 1940s it had passed through several more owners before joining Johnson Flying Service of Missoula, Montana, the outfit that pioneered the U.S. Forest Service's smokejumper program.Carrying the registration N8400 (the "NC" prefix was dropped nationwide in 1948, same aircraft, same number), this airframe carried four Missoula smokejumpers to Washington National Airport on June 28, 1949, for a nationally publicized demonstration jump onto the Ellipse between the White House and the Washington Monument, flown in support of a national fire-prevention program.It crashed near Basin, Montana on July 14, 1953, sat for over two decades, and restoration work began in 1979; it is understood to remain today with a specialist Ford Tri-Motor restoration shop in Michigan, making it, as far as is documented, the sole survivor among the Ford Tri-Motors recorded landing at Tucson's historic Davis-Monthan Field in the late 1920s and early 1930s.The print itself is on period Kodak photographic paper, identifiable from the faint "This Paper Manufactured By Kodak" watermark visible on the reverse when held to light, a mark Kodak used on its black and white paper stock into 1961, consistent with an early, original print from the aircraft's active promotional years rather than a later reproduction.Images are scanned at 600dpi so you can inspect every detail before you buy.Every effort is made toward accurate fact-checking and documented provenance, drawing on historical archives, period news sources, and registry records, and if anything about this listing is ever incorrect or leaves you unsatisfied, please reach out and I will make it right.Orders placed before Noon CDT ship same day via Ground Advantage with tracking, so you always know exactly when your item will arrive. Returns are accepted on all items over $25. Every photograph ships in rigid, professional packaging, sealed and protected in acid-free sleeves. Shipping is free and already built into the price, so the price you see is exactly what you pay, with no surprise shipping costs at checkout.CONDITIONThis is a small-format vintage photograph, please review the measurements carefully: the mounted card is approximately 4 1/2 x 2 3/4 inches overall, with an image area of approximately 3 1/4 x 2 1/2 inches.The print shows even, original toning consistent with age, softly rounded corners, and light overall handling wear typical of a photograph that has spent close to a century in a personal collection. No tears, creases, or writing appear on the front of the image.The reverse carries light pencil archival notations (A.55103, 4-AT-E) from a prior collection along with the faint period Kodak paper watermark, and shows no tape residue or mounting damage.Please review all photos closely, as they are part of the description, and reach out with any condition questions before purchasing.
Related Items:
Vintage 1929 NEW BEAUTY for the NEW FORD Brochure John S. Walker Co. Detroit MI
$29.99
1929 Ford Tri-Motor NC8400 - Curtis Publishing, Smokejumper Plane 4.50x2.75"
$67.99
1929 Ford Model A Roadster & Sport Coupe Very rare Original ad from American Boy
$28.50
