Amelia Earhart's Autogiro NC10780
Pitcairn PCA-2 Autogyro 8x10 Aviation Photo
Beech-Nut Autogiro | 1979 MDC St. Louis Company PrintDESCRIPTIONThis 8x10 black and white photograph shows Pitcairn PCA-2 autogiro NC10780, the registration painted on the tail, parked on a paved ramp beside a hangar marked City of New York, Dept. of Docks. The Department of Docks built and ran Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, and the partly visible lettering on the hangar is consistent with that field. Close views show the overhead rotor and pylon with its control cables, the exposed radial engine, the stub wings and the fixed landing gear.Registry history connects NC10780 to Amelia Earhart. Pitcairn built it in April 1931, serial number B-12, and it was sold to her husband, George Palmer Putnam, on May 7, 1931. Earhart flew it that summer on her autogiro tour sponsored by the Beech-Nut Packing Company, which bought the airplane on July 11, 1931 and had it painted green with large BEECH-NUT lettering. Davis-Monthan register records list it crashing at Abilene, Texas on June 12, 1931, with a second accident at Detroit on September 12, 1931 that damaged the rotor blades beyond repair. From 1932 to 1934 it belonged to Gyro-Ads, Inc. of Howard Beach, New York, then to Monard Flyers, Inc. of Woodhaven, New York, which sold it to an owner in Oslo, Norway in May 1936.The print is undated and carries no caption. Earhart does not appear in the photograph, and no Beech-Nut lettering is visible on the airplane, so the image may show it before or after that promotional paint scheme. This listing sticks to what the photograph itself shows and to what the registry records say about the airplane.From the AITKEN COLLECTION. This is a 1979 company print made by McDonnell Douglas Corporation, St. Louis (MDC), and is not an original period print. The reverse carries blue stamps reading MDC ST. LOUIS, a December 1979 date and NEGATIVES NOT FILED, along with the collection's typed owner label. It is described and priced as a 1979 company print.Photos are 600dpi scans of the actual print, including close-ups of the rotor, engine, tail registration and reverse stamps.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 will 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. Rigid, professional packaging on all shipments 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 photographic paper, a 1979 MDC St. Louis company print. The image has strong contrast with fine grain, and the focus is slightly soft in places, which comes from the original photograph and not from wear. A few small dust specks show in the scans. No tears, creases, stains or fold lines are visible. There is no writing on the front. The reverse shows the blue MDC ST. LOUIS stamp, a December 1979 date stamp with some ink smudging in the year, the NEGATIVES NOT FILED stamp and the typed Aitken Collection label, all as pictured. Please review all photos closely, as they are part of the description.
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