1934 General GA-43A \"Bolivar\" Floatplane Photo, One of 5 Built, PAA For Sale

1934 General GA-43A \"Bolivar\" Floatplane Photo
One of 5 Built, PAA
Named for Simon Bolivar, Flown for Pan Am in ColombiaDESCRIPTIONThis is an original vintage photograph of a General Aviation GA-43A riding calm water on twin floats. Only five GA-43As were ever built, and this aircraft, registered X13904, constructor\'s number 2205, was the last one off the line and the only one fitted with a Pratt and Whitney Hornet engine and floats instead of wheels. It was designed by Virginius E. Clark, a Naval Academy graduate and Army aviation pioneer who later created the Clark Y airfoil in 1922, a wing profile that went on to fly on aircraft as celebrated as Lindbergh\'s Spirit of St. Louis and the Lockheed Vega. The GA-43A program began at Fairchild\'s Pilgrim division before General Aviation took it over, and when General Motors folded General Aviation into North American Aviation, this design is often credited as the first aircraft to carry the North American Aviation name, the company that would go on to build the P-51 Mustang and the F-86 Sabre. Pan American\'s Aviation Supply Corporation ordered this specific airframe and sent it to Colombia, where SCADTA, Pan Am\'s Colombian subsidiary and one of the oldest airlines in the Western Hemisphere, flew her along the Rio Magdalena and christened her Bolivar, after Simon Bolivar, the revolutionary who liberated Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia from Spanish rule. This aircraft was in service during the very years Pan Am quietly held a controlling stake in SCADTA while the airline was still largely staffed by German nationals, a situation the US government watched closely out of concern for the Panama Canal, until Pan Am\'s ownership became public in 1939 and the airline was reorganized into Avianca the following year. The reverse carries the teal AIRPHOTOS of Jamestown, New York stamp (Photo No. 2816) alongside the collection mark of Richard L. Seely, a professional aviation photo and literature dealer whose material has been lent and sold to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, two separate documented chains of custody on one print.Images were scanned at 600dpi so every detail on the front and back comes through clearly. Every effort is made for fact checking and provenance, including background research through news and historical archives. If any listing is incorrect in any way and you\'re unsatisfied with the item, please connect with me and I\'ll make it right. Orders placed before Noon CDT ship same day via Ground Advantage with tracking, so you know exactly when it will arrive. Returns accepted on all items exceeding $25 in cost. Rigid, professional packaging on all shipments, sealed and protected in acid-free protectors. Shipping is free and already built into the price, so the BIN price is exactly what you pay, no surprise shipping costs at checkout.CONDITIONOriginal vintage snapshot-format photograph, approximately 2.75 x 4.5 inches. The front image is sharp with strong tonal range across the sky, water, and airframe, and the registration and cabin windows are clearly legible. The reverse carries the typed and handwritten identification, the teal AIRPHOTOS stamp, and the black Richard L. Seely stamp, all fully legible; a faint diagonal crease is visible on the reverse and does not carry through to the front image, and a small spot of age toning sits near the lower left corner. Sold as-is; please see photos for exact condition.