dh4b

Thomas-Morse (de Havilland) DH-4B 22-1196 of the USAAS from Langley Field static at Bolling Field ca. 1924. (Maybe this was the occasion when President Coolidge ("Silent Cal") was attributed with the quote, "Why can't we just buy them one nice aircraft and let them take turns flying it?" 90+years later, he's almost gotten his wish...)

United States Army Air Service aviators of the 1920 Alaskan Expedition, photographed at Mitchel Field, Long Island, (L to R), St. Clair "Bill" Streett, Clifford C. Nutt, Ross C. Kirkpatrick, Erik H. Nelson, and Clarence E. Crumrine. The same photo is featured in U.S. Air Service, Vol. 4, No. 1, August 1920, Page 8. The expedition consisting of four Army Air Service de Havilland DH-4B aircraft and crew (several of which would have distinguished careers in aviation), flew round trip from Mitchel Field, Long Island to Nome, Alaska, from July 15, 1920 to October 20, 1920. For more on the expedition, see: "The Alaskan Flying Expedition - A Remarkable Achievement for the Army Air Service," Flying, Vol. IX, No. 10, November 1920, Pages 626-630.

Thank you TVL1970 for the great details about these men and the Alaska Expedition. We will add some of them to the description when we update.

This DH-4B looks more like a DH-4M-1 to me, with its larger wheels mounted farther forward, and the spare tire under the fuselage. For those thinking it is a DH-4B-4 "Airways" conversion, the fuselage rear cockpit hasn't been modified. If you could see the Air Corps horizontal stripe rudder markings here, you would definitely rule it out as being a DH-4B, i.e., dated prior to 1927.