Fox Moth NC12739 de Havilland DH.83 Biplane 8x10 Photo Vintage Aviation Print For Sale

Fox Moth NC12739 de Havilland DH.83
Biplane 8x10 Photo Vintage Aviation Print
Designed to haul a family and yacht gear | 1979 ReprintDESCRIPTIONThis 8x10 black and white photograph shows a de Havilland DH.83 Fox Moth parked on a paved ramp, photographed in profile from slightly ahead of the wing so the swept upper wing and the nose fill the foreground. The full registration NC 12739 is lettered on the fin and rudder. The enclosed passenger cabin sits up front with its row of side windows, the pilot's raised cockpit with a squared-off windscreen is set behind it, and the single-bay wings are braced with struts and cross wires above a large main wheel. A swooping two-tone paint scheme runs across the cowling and nose. Beyond the airplane the field edge shows a small building, a white fence and a tower in the distance, and the dark tail of another aircraft, with part of its NC registration showing, peeks over the fuselage.The Fox Moth was designed by Arthur Hagg and first flew on January 29, 1932, with Hubert Broad at the controls at Stag Lane. It paired Tiger Moth wings and tail with a new fuselage built around the cabin. According to the de Havilland Moth Club, Hagg conceived it as a cheap way to carry himself, his family and their yachting gear from London to the south coast of England.The Air-Britain production list records NC12739 as construction number 4026. It was registered in Britain as G-ABZD on September 26, 1932 through a London nominee for American buyer Troubridge Heaton, with the sale contract dated October 21, 1932, and it was fitted with a Gipsy Major engine. The British registration was cancelled that December as sold abroad. It became NC12739 in the United States on January 15, 1933, registered to Heaton at San Mateo, California, and later New York. Further registrations followed on January 21, 1938 to Fanny Martino at Floyd Bennett Field and on July 13, 1938 to Paul R. Smith of Flushing, New York. The aircraft crashed in 1939 and the registration was cancelled on August 19, 1939.The print carries no caption, so the date and place it was taken are not known. The NC prefix on the tail fits the 1933 U.S. registration. The same registration number was reused in the early 1960s on a different Fox Moth, a rebuilt Canadian-built example, so the history above belongs to the original airframe, c/n 4026.This print is a 1979 company reprint made by McDonnell Douglas (MDC) at St. Louis, not an original period print, and it is offered and priced as such. The back is stamped in blue MDC ST. LOUIS, SEP 19, NEGATIVES NOT FILED, with the year digits smudged, and carries two owner's ink stamps for Donald and Barbara Aitken of Irvine, California. Other prints from this collection carry 1979 dates. It comes from the Aitken Collection. Scanned at 600dpi.Donald Aitken was a Navy-trained aviator who flew helicopters and then spent his airline career as a United Airlines captain on the 747, 727, 757, 767 and DC-10, retiring in 1996. He grew up watching planes overhead in rural North Dakota and flew radio-controlled airplanes well into his later years.Every effort is made toward 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. All shipments receive rigid, professional packaging, 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.CONDITIONBlack and white 8x10 print on cream-toned photographic paper with white margins around the image. The subject is sharp with fine, even grain and the NC 12739 lettering is fully legible, while the distant background and the tail area are softer. A soft, round gray spot in the sky to the left of the tail is part of the print, and a few tiny dark dust specks show in the sky. No tears, creases or stains are visible in the scans, and there is no writing on the front. The back is clean cream paper with the blue MDC St. Louis stamp and two Aitken ink stamps, as pictured. Please review all photos closely, as they are part of the description.