boeing40b

Boeing Model 40-Y, NC381 c/n 1095 (top) Boeing Model 95, C397E c/n 1057 (bottom) The sole Model 40-Y was a custom conversion of a 40-B airframe built for the Standard Oil Company of California. It had a cabin for two passengers and two open cockpits with dual controls. Powerplant was a 525 hp Pratt & Whitney Hornet radial engine, it had a balanced rudder and a tail-wheel. NC381 was turned over to the customer on December 9, 1928, and made its first flight the following day. For a series of endurance flights this Model 95 single-seat mailplane was later modified to a two-seater. For this special program it was given a restricted license and registered R397E it made several nonstop transcontinental flights being refueled from specially modified 40B-4s and an Army Douglas C-1. Its life ended when it crashed in a storm, the crew escaped injuries.

According to the website "Golden Years of Aviation" this aircraft is a Boeing 40B-4. It was one of four such models acquired by Western Canada Airways Ltd. in December 1929. It flew for less than three years, catching fire on 30 July 1932 after returning from a flight from Pembina, North Dakota.

Boeing 40-B-4 NC843M (c/n 1169) Western Air Express.