Fairchild FC-2W-2

Fairchild FC-2W-2

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During the first of a series Antarctic expeditions US Navy Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd used this aircraft for the first flight ever on the Antarctic continent on January 15, 1929. At the end of the expedition, after 146 flight hours, the wings were folded, the aircraft wrapped under canvas and left to the elements. During the following expedition, four years later, the aircraft was unwrapped, checked and flown for another 41 hours. In 1935 the aircraft was transported back to the US and flown extensively by barnstormer Alton Walker. Subsequently Fairchild Aerial Surveys (FAS) bought the aircraft, using it until 1942 when the aircraft was withdrawn from use and cannibalized for other FAS aircraft. Finally in 1961 the deplorable remains became in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution and stored for preservation. Between 1981 and 1989 the Cradle of Aviation Museum restored the aircraft, after the completion the Smithsonian lent the "Stars and Stripes" to the Virginia Aviation Museum in Richmond, Virginia, USA.


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During the first of a series Antarctic expeditions US Navy Commander Richard Evelyn Byrd used this aircraft for the first flight ever on the Antarctic continent on January 15, 1929. At the end of the expedition, after 146 flight hours, the wings were folded, the aircraft wrapped under canvas and left to the elements. During the following expedition, four years later, the aircraft was unwrapped, checked and flown for another 41 hours. In 1935 the aircraft was transported back to the US and flown extensively by barnstormer Alton Walker. Subsequently Fairchild Aerial Surveys (FAS) bought the aircraft, using it until 1942 when the aircraft was withdrawn from use and cannibalized for other FAS aircraft. Finally in 1961 the deplorable remains became in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution and stored for preservation. Between 1981 and 1989 the Cradle of Aviation Museum restored the aircraft, after the completion the Smithsonian lent the "Stars and Stripes" to the Virginia Aviation Museum in Richmond, Virginia, USA.