Curtiss NC-4

[CoastieJohn]

Well, somebody restored it. It's obviously in pristine condition...

I guess my $50 curiosity question is......would the engines still turn over?

Edit added: After thinking about this NC-4 discussion, and this maybe a whole new thread, would this airframe as complete as it is be the most historically significant airframe out there?

[APG85]

Well, somebody restored it. It's obviously in pristine condition...

I guess my $50 curiosity question is......would the engines still turn over?

Edit added: After thinking about this NC-4 discussion, and this maybe a whole new thread, would this airframe as complete as it is be the most historically significant airframe out there?

Tough to say. The fabric doesn't look original. I don't think it can compete with the Spirit of St. Louis for originality. Everything on the Spirit except the windows are as it was delivered to the Smithsonian in 1928. The original windows are in storage because they yellowed with age.

[CoastieJohn]

Well, somebody restored it. It's obviously in pristine condition...

I guess my $50 curiosity question is......would the engines still turn over?

Edit added: After thinking about this NC-4 discussion, and this maybe a whole new thread, would this airframe as complete as it is be the most historically significant airframe out there?

Tough to say. The fabric doesn't look original. I don't think it can compete with the Spirit of St. Louis for originality. Everything on the Spirit except the windows are as it was delivered to the Smithsonian in 1928. The original windows are in storage because they yellowed with age.

I suppose the wing fabric question is for someone with intimate knowledge of the NC-4. Even if it was changed, would the historical accomplishment of NC-4 still outweigh the SOSL?

[APG85]

Each aircraft is important. I'm interested in the what is original and what has been replaced over the years via restorations, etc. It would be neat to see some pictures/video of the NC-4 being assembled. Interesting topic...

[sandiego89]

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After thinking about this NC-4 discussion, and this maybe a whole new thread, would this airframe as complete as it is be the most historically significant airframe out there?

"Most historically significant" is likely too subjective to get a consensus on- especially on a forum like this

Singificant or original?

All kinds of things come into play- impact to aviation, impact to a larger society, recognition, originality of the airframe, how significant the feat was.....

What criteria do we use? I do not think the NC-4 captured the imagintation of the world, or has the recognition as much as a few other airframes have. Few (none?) non-enthusiats could answer what it did, or name it. By no means does this detract from the accomplishment. But is recognition more important than significance?

My short list for most significant exisitng individual airframes:
Spirit of St. Loius
Wright flyer (yes I am aware of the originality debate)
Enola Gay
NC-4
Bleriot XI
X-15-A2
Appollo 11 command module

[APG85]

Maybe we should start a new topic: Milestones of Flight Gallery: What would you include?

[CoastieJohn]

Just for grins I looked around out there to see what others (Air & Space, etc) thought were historically significant airframes. Yup....this probably would be a diverse topic with alot of viewpoints. Would the list be surviving airframes?.....include non-survivors?...etc. Would the airframes be significant to historical aviation achievement or significant to historical world events (Like WWII)? This would be a deep subject to explore. We would need to define the parameters first. With so many famous airframes out there, we could probably make a few of lists for the different accomplishments they are known for.