Bowen Air Lines  Lockheed 5B Vega   NC161W                 (c/n  127)

                                     

                                         This rare shot is from the History of Aviation Collection at the University of Texas at Dallas.  It  is
                                         the only shot I have ever seen showing an aircraft actually showing Bowen Air Lines titling (see
                                         enlargement below).  The photo was taken on 8 January 1931 and shows boxer Jack Dempsey
                                         when he flew into Dallas to referee a wrestling match.      I am not absolutely positive that it this
                                         machine is, in fact, NC161W but arrived at this conclusion through deduction.   The other two
                                         Vega 5Bs which Bowen had were NC107W (which was not acquired by the airline until later)
                                         and NC160W which was destroyed by a tornado at Houston on 1 August 1930.  Assuming that
                                         this is, therefore, NC161W, this aircraft was sold in the mid 1930s to Lineas Aereas Mineras in
                                         Mexico as XA-DAM.