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Tillamook Air Museum: Bellanca and Fairchild airplanes (photo diary) [1]

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Date: 2025-09-05

The Tillamook Air Museum, housed in a World War II Navy Blimp Hanger in Tillamook, Oregon, has a Bellanca 14-23 Cruisair Senior and a Fairchild GK-1.

Bellanca 14-13 Cruisair Senior

Giuseppe Bellanca, in partnership with the DuPont family, founded the Bellanca Aircraft Company in 1927. According to the Museum:

“Bellanca’s aircraft were known for their innovative, efficient, and record setting designs.”

According to the Museum:

“The Bellanca 14-13 Cruisair Senior was a general aviation aircraft built by the Bellanca Aircraft Company just after WW ll in 1946. The 14-13 was an improved design on the earlier Bellanca 14-7 and featured a welded steel-tube fuselage with a fabric covering, the remainder of the aircraft being constructed out of wood. In total, approximately 600 Bellanca 14-13’s in nine different variants were produced by the Bellanca Aircraft Company until 1956 when production ceased. While an excellent all around aircraft, the plane’s sales suffered due to the era in which it was built. After WW ll a significant number of excess aircraft were on the market, forcing a downward pressure on sales of the Bellanca 14-13. One unusual feature of the Bellanca was the addition of oval end plates on the plane’s horizontal stabilizer. This gave it the nickname of the “Cardboard Constellation” after Lockheed’s famous aircraft, the Constellation.”

This airplane has a top speed of 165 mph, a cruising speed of 150 mph, a range of 600 miles, and a ceiling of 16,000 feet. It is powered by a Franklin 6A4-150-B-3 150 hp flat six air-cooled engine.

Fairchild GK-1

Sherman Fairchild, the founder of the Fairchild Aviation Company, is best known for designing aviation cameras.

According to the Museum:

“The Fairchild GK-1 was a military variant of the Fairchild Model 24 which was a four-place monoplane designed and built in the early 1930’s. The Model 24 was a direct descendant of Fairchild’s Model 22, an airplane that was designed to capture the market for both business and personal use. Fairchild had been hit hard during the Great Depression, as airline purchases were virtually non-existent. Their reaction to this was to cater their aircraft towards the personal and business market with the introduction of the Model 22 and then the Model 24. Known for its roomy interior, ease of handling, lower cost, and rugged airframe, the Model 24 proved to be quite a success for Fairchild. Beginning in 1936, the U.S. Navy ordered several Model 24’s, designating them GK-1’s and using them for trainer aircraft and research. In 1941 the U.S. Army Air Force also ordered several Model 24’s, designating them the UC-61, with many of them ultimately going to Great Britain through the Lend Lease Program. Production of the Model 24 ceased in 1948, but the airplane would remain popular after WW ll with private pilots and several air forces worldwide, including Finland, Canada, Australia, and Israel.

The Museum’s Fairchild GK-1, BuNo 7033, was built in Hagerstown, Maryland in 1940 and procured by the United States Navy between 1940-1942 for use as a four-seat transport aircraft. The airplane is on loan to the Museum from the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida.”

This airplane has a top speed of 127 mph, a cruising speed of 118 mph, a range of 475 miles, and a ceiling of 12,000 feet. It is powered by a 145 hp Warner R-500 air-cooled radial engine.

Note: These photographs were taken on October 24, 2024.

More airplanes

Tillamook Air Museum: Cessna 180 Skywagon (photo diary)

Tillamook Air Museum: North American T-39 Sabreliner (photo diary)

WAAAM: Fairchild Airplanes (Photo Diary)

WAAAM: Waco Airplanes (Photo Diary)

Evergreen Aviation Museum: The Catalina, a patrol flying boat (photo diary)

Erickson Aircraft: L-29 Delphin (photo diary)

Stonehenge Air Museum: Monoplanes (Photo Diary)

McChord Air Museum: The Twin Beech (photo diary)

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