Boeing Model 40B Reproduction - Seattle, WA - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

Located at the Museum of Flight are a large number of static aircraft on display. One of them is a Boeing Model 40B Replica. The Museum of Flight website contains a page devoted to this aircraft and it reads:

In 1925, Boeing built its first Model 40 when the U.S. Post Office Department was seeking a design using the World War I-era Liberty engine. When the Chicago-San Francisco airmail contract went for bid, Eddie Hubbard suggested that company engineer Claire Egtvedt replace the water-cooled Liberty with the more efficient Pratt & Whitney air-cooled Wasp engine intended for military fighters.

Company officials convinced Bill Boeing that an improved Model 40 would enable the firm to win the transcontinental contract. That, indeed, happened. The 40A included room for two passengers behind the mail compartment and in front of the open cockpit. Asked how he could operate so efficiently, Bill Boeing said "we're carrying mail over those mountains rather than water and radiators." The 40 could carry twice the payload of its competitors. Later versions of the 40 flew with a Pratt & Whitney Hornet and room for four passengers.

Thanks to the generosity of William E. Boeing Jr. the Museum's Model 40B reproduction was constructed by Century Aviation of Wenatchee, Wash., and was installed in our Great Gallery in October of 2007.

A nearby placard adds additional information on this Boeing Model 40B and it reads:

A New Role for Airplanes
The Boeing Model 40 was designed to replace older de Havilland DH-4 mail planes that the U.S. Post Office Department had been using to carry mail. The prototype version of the Model 40, with a Liberty engine and fuselage made from an odd combination of steel tubing, wood formers, and wood veneer, first flew on July 7, 1925. The 40A and the 40B were the first Boeing airplanes built to carry passengers. In all, approximately 80 of the Model 40 family were built.

Model 40s for Air Mail
In 1927, when the Boeing Airplane Company bid on the San Francisco to Chicago air mail run, the Model 40 was redesigned to give the company's pilots suitable equipment for the difficult route. The new Model 40s had Pratt & Whitney air-cooled engines and a cabin between the cockpit and the mail compartment to carry passengers. Model 40As had a 420-h.p. "Wasp" engine and could carry two passengers, while later 40B-4s had a 525-h.p. "Hornet" engine and could take four paying customers into the air.

All Metal Frame
Boeing's Louis Marsh perfected an efficient process for arc-welding light steel tubing for use in the aircraft. First used in the PW-9 fighter in 1922, this technique was also applied to the Model 40. The mixed wood-and-steel fuselage used in the prototype was replaced in later production models with a structure made entirely from welded steel tubing.

This reproduction was created for the Museum of Flight by Century Aviation of Wenatchee, Washington from original parts.

Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Boeing Model 40B Reproduction Tail Number: (S/N): C290 Construction:: replica Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): Museum of Flight inside / outside: inside Other Information:: Not listed Access restrictions: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)

Tell why you are visiting this waymark along with any other interesting facts or personal experiences about the aircraft not already mentioned.

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