Northwest Airways  Ford 5-AT-C   N8419   (c/n   58)

                                    

                                         By the end of 1928 the airline was providing service north from Milwaukee to Green Bay.   A fleet
                                         of Ford Tri-Motors had been acquired, one of which is seen loading at Minneapolis in 1930.  Mean-
                                         while, on 1 October 1929 a  new company, with the same name, i.e. Northwest Airways was incorp-
                                         orated in the state of Delaware.  North American Aviation were a large stockholder, acquired nominally
                                         through Transcontinental Air Transport, Inc.  Thus, while NWA might claim its heritage goes back to
                                         1926, this, strictly speaking is not true, since the name has been used several times with different manage-
                                          ment and ownership.    NWA also operated the Ford 5-AT-B seen below.  This aircraft had been
                                          acquired from the RCA Radio Corp and was in fact, the Official Weather Airplane for the 1929
                                          National Aviation Tour.   This was an annual event put on to educate the public in the art of air travel.
                                          NC9676 was later sold in the Dutch West Indies as PK-AKE.  Ford Tri-Motors carried 14 passengers,
                                          so the load factor on the shot below appears to be about 50%.

                                       Ford 5-AT-B  NC9676          (c/n   42)