Boeing 307 Stratoliner NX19901 1939 Photos Before the Fatal Crash
Two Original Boeing Field Snapshots, Confirmed SizesDESCRIPTIONThis is a matched pair of original vintage photographs of NX19901, the Boeing 307 Stratoliner prototype, photographed on the ramp at Boeing Field in Seattle sometime between its first flight on December 31, 1938 and its fatal crash on March 18, 1939.The Stratoliner was the world's first pressurized commercial airliner, built from the wings, tail, and engines of the B-17 Flying Fortress and capable of cruising above 20,000 feet, well over the weather that grounded every other airliner of its day.The pair shows two different views of the same aircraft.#1 One print, 3.25 x 4.25in, is a closer view near a Boeing hangar with mechanics working at the inboard engines and a distant industrial smoke stack in the background.#2 The other, 4.25 x 2.75in and developed on period Velox photographic paper, is a broad three-quarter shot with the tail registration NX19901 legible against a wet, reflective tarmac and a line of telephone poles receding into the distance. Ground crew in period work clothing are visible servicing the aircraft in both photographs.This exact airframe existed for only 80 days.
On March 18, 1939, during a demonstration flight for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines representatives, the Stratoliner entered an unrecoverable spin and crashed near Alder, Washington, killing all ten aboard.The tragedy led Boeing to enlarge the vertical stabilizer on every surviving Stratoliner, a redesign that carried directly into the B-17E Flying Fortress.
Only ten Boeing 307s were ever built, and this photographed prototype was the first.
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CONDITIONBoth photographs are in good to very good condition for their age. Image surfaces are clean and sharp with strong contrast; there is light corner wear and small handling marks consistent with photographs kept in a personal collection for over eighty years. No tears or creases run through either image, and there is no writing on either image face. The 3.25 x 4.25in print carries a period rubber stamp code and a later ink notation reading NX19901 on the reverse. The 4.25 x 2.75in print carries a period pencil caption reading 307 Stratoliner and a later ink caption reading Boeing 307 Stratoliner, along with the Velox paper watermark.
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