ID of biplane

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Member for

19 years 8 months

Posts: 296

Normally I'am fairly good at ID's of aircraft.
But this one has me ?
Who can help.
I took the photograph, with a 350 mm & Pentax H1a at Van Nuys Airport, California in July 1965.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]238280[/ATTACH]

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Original post

Member for

12 years 4 months

Posts: 34

A Swallow ??

Member for

20 years 8 months

Posts: 8,505

Got me foxed too. That fin/rudder shape looks familiar though. If I didn't know better I'd have said it was a Stinson product.

Member for

19 years 7 months

Posts: 1,772

It is a Lincoln LP-3 and was then the only example still airworthy.

Tim

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,208

Lincoln-Page LP-3, re-engined with a round motor

Member for

20 years 8 months

Posts: 8,505

Thanks for putting us out of our misery. It's a type I know absolutely nothing about.

Member for

19 years 5 months

Posts: 9,821

No, the Stinson company never produced any biplane in quantity.
Still, I wouldn't have known this one either.

My general rule to avoid looking silly at airports, when asked what some unknown biplane is (i.e. not a Stearman or some other known type) say (with confidence)..."It's a WACO".
The firm made many types and there are many survivors. Playing the odds, you're bound to be right most of the time. However, the tail on this one is definitely NOT WACO.

Looking at old American biplanes is like looking at cars of the 1910-29...there were so many marques. It seems each city had one. Worse, except for details many looked more or less alike following the current "state of the art". And as we see with this ac, over the years they are modified with (slightly) more modern engines. Other designs went by different names as firms were bought and sold, especially after the Lindbergh civil aviation "boom".

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,208

And most of them lasted from about 1927 until 1929

Member for

20 years 8 months

Posts: 8,505

Yes I have to agree they were the aviation equivalent of the modern car. They seem to have been under the impression that being different meant ruling themselves out of the market as "people like what they know" rather than daring to be a little different and probably selling more because not everyone wants the same as the guy next door.

Member for

19 years 8 months

Posts: 296

Wow, I'am impressed!
Anybody have the reg number. N???
Thanks

Member for

19 years 7 months

Posts: 1,772

It is N3830, now in the Yanks Air Museum at Chino. It now sports a smart dark green scheme. I photographed it there in the 1990s but here is a link to an article showing the aircraft in the same colour scheme as in the OP's photo.

http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/aircraft/international-aircraft-directory/single-engine-aircraft/lincoln-page.html#.VXxxenCkqrU

Tim

Member for

19 years 8 months

Posts: 296

Now I'am really impressed.
With the reg number its of course possible to follow its history.
Good Man!
Thanks

Member for

19 years 5 months

Posts: 9,821

Yes I have to agree they were the aviation equivalent of the modern car. They seem to have been under the impression that being different meant ruling themselves out of the market as "people like what they know" rather than daring to be a little different and probably selling more because not everyone wants the same as the guy next door.

Yes, aviation was pretty conservative in the old days, but more to the point, the GA biplanes of the era were more a product of "state of the art" as opposed to a "me too" mentality.
Pushing the envelope in terms of fuselage construction would have meant RD and technical risk...which most small firms could not afford. Also, designers, factory workers and available tools were available for tube and fabric biplanes.