Mark, they were built from 1929 through the 1930s. They were apparently used by a lot of explorers. Must have been quite rugged although weird. Lots of struts and especially over top of the engines to the wings. Those are missing and I just got some metal stock to replicate them. They in a terrible position to solder them. Unfortunately, all the brass I got is square edged and I have to round it all over.
Wings are fabric covered.
This plane is owned by the Johnson's Wax people.
This one was recently completely rehabbed. The long strut is not only the shock absorber, but it also the hydraulic lift jack to fold the wheels up to a horizontal position in front of the wing. This was one of the best pics of the landing gear that I used to model them.
The cabin was kind of luxurious. You had to get in from a hatch in the top rear, same with the cockpit. It had the original Wright Wasp radial engines. Model is an oddball scale of 1:21.
