Photo No. 2480. New Standard D-25 (NC9756 c/n 105) Story adapted from a more lengthy article by Gilles Auliard published in the November 2001 issue of Aeroplane magazine. An American father-and-son team is recapturing the flavor of inter-war barnstormer-style pleasure-flying operations using "the most desirable antique airplane," the New Standard D-25. NC9756, and her sister ship, NC9125, are flown by Bob and Rob Lock, operators of the Waldo Wright Flying Service. The inspiration for the name of their company came from one of their favorite films, The Great Waldo Pepper. The New Standard Aircraft Corporation of Paterson, New Jersey, USA, produced various types of aircraft in the New Standard series of aircraft. Forty or so D-25s were built, and put to good use by barnstormers and airlines in their infancy. The airplane could accommodate four or five paying passengers, so pleasure-flight operators could carry up to 40 passengers per hour, bringing some pretty hefty monetary rewards, even at the cut-throat rate of $1 a ride. Nowadays, the New Standard is still a prized item. Even with a $175,000 to $250,000 price tag, the D-25 can generate a good profit for its owner. Bob Lock explains how son Rob acquired the airplane: "NC9756 came from Oregon City, Oregon, USA. Rob bought it in 1990 from Stu Mitzel. Well, most of the airplane, anyway. It was in fair shape; the wings were not too good, but the fuselage was still useable after some work. So Rob looked around for somebody who could do the job of restoring the fuselage. He found Craig Sinclair, who had already restores another New Standard owned by Mike Hart." While the fuselage was being taken care of in New Hampshire, USA, Bob was working on the West Coast: "I built the upper wings, center section and ailerons, while a friend of mine, Dick Hansen of Fresno, California, USA, built the lower wings and the tail plane. We hauled the fuselage in a U-Haul truck in July 1998. The airplane is gorgeous, and it handled perfectly well. It flew right out the hangar (the long-awaited first flight took place on June 8, 2000), and flew well. The engine runs great, and that is the first Wright I have flown behind that did not throw any oil at me. The visibility from the rear seat is really good, a lot better than I had expected. Roll control is better than anticipated. At low speed you need to use a lot of aileron to get the authority needed to keep you wings level. It does very nice wing-overs and lazy eights, but it does not deal gracefully with vertical maneuvers." As a D-25 taxies by with a quartet of giggling youngsters aboard, Rob concludes, "This is what it is about. Those kids will never forget what is happening right now. A couple of weeks ago I had an older man come to me. He told me: ‘You know, I flew in one of these in 1929, but it had a Hisso engine on it.' I replied that he could have flown in the very same airplane 70 years ago, since it was originally built as a D-24 powered by a Hisso. He vividly remembers his first biplane ride, and those kids will, too. That's what makes it worthwhile."