RON DUPAS COLLECTION
No. 732. Bellanca CF (NR11036 c/n C-56)
Photographed at NASM's Paul E. Garber Restoration and Storage Facility, Suitland, Maryland, USA, 1990, by Ron Dupas

Bellanca CF

05/31/2007. Remarks by Jack McKillop: "This is the one and only CF built and it made its first flight on June 8, 1922. One week later, the Bellanca CF flew at the Midwestern Flying Meet at Monmouth, Illinois, where it won all four events of speed, time to climb, and gliding endurance. It went on to win several other races includingthe National Air Races of 1923.

The Yellow Aircab Company of New York purchased the CF in 1924, with plans for an aerial taxi service, and added a 110 hp Anzani engine along with a new forward fuselage, a steel-tube landing gear, and more windows in the fuselage. Yellow Aircab went out of business and Continental Aircraft Corporation bought the aircraft in 1925, but it too went bankrupt.

After passing through several owners, the CF was displayed and flown at the Roosevelt Field Air Museum on Long Island, New York, with a Curtiss D Headless Pusher, the Thomas-Morse S-4C Scout and other early aircraft. The Roosevelt Field museum deteriorated and the CF returned to the Bellanca family, then living in Maryland.

Following Giuseppe Bellanca's death in 1960, the family donated the aircraft to the NASM, and it arrived at the Silver Hill, Maryland, facility. From January 1979 to May 1980, NASM craftsmen repaired, replaced, or rebuilt significant portions of the aircraft, including the mahogany fuselage, tail section, landing gear, and engine mount and cowling. New Grade A cotton fabric and a restored 110 hp Anzani engine completed the restoration. As of this date, the aircraft is on display at the NASM's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, USA."


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