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THE "QUESTION MARK"
Fokker C-2 Transport 28-120, The "Question Mark"
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At right, Fokker C-2 Transport 28-120, named the "Question
Mark", landed twice at Tucson, first on December 21, 1929 at 1:45PM.
The pilot was Ira C. Eaker, and he and his crew were westbound from Midland, TX to San Diego, CA to embark on what was to become the first military air-to-air refueling record.
28-120 came to Tucson the second time on January 21, 1929. The pilot this time was Carl
Spatz. Spatz and his crew remained overnight at Tucson,
departing at 7:00AM next morning. The location of this image at right is unknown, but see this link for
an image of Spatz and the "Question Mark" on the
ground at Tucson January 21.
You might note, if you go to the Register page (74-75) that Eaker signed the registration number for this airplane as "28-160". This was an error on his part, as the airplane is 28-120. Earlier in the Register, in August, 1928, 28-160 was signed in as a Douglas O-2H .
"Question Mark" is a famous aircraft, because
it set an early Army refueled endurance record on January
1, 1929. Refer to the link to Spatz' page above for an overview
of the flight and just what kinds of preparations went into
the endurance flight. The details are withering!
Although it is not clear from the Register, Spatz is identified
here as pilot for the second landing at Tucson, as he was listed
first. Spatz was the official pilot and Eaker was the official
co-pilot during the endurance run. As well as Maj. Carl Spatz,
Capt. Ira Eaker,
Sgt. Roy Hooe, Mr. H.J. Adamson, Capt. Ross Hoyt and Lt.
E.R. Quesada are listed in the Pilot field in the Register.
Someone wrote "Question Mark" in the Passenger
field of the Register. The name of the airplane was based on how long the
crew thought they would remain aloft: they didn't really
know.
Interestingly, the Army endurance flight coincided with
an endurance record set by Bobbi
Trout. Their airplanes were in the air at the same time
and in the same vicinity. Spatz dropped a note of encouragement
from the "Question Mark"
that was shared with Trout.
The "Question Mark", Spatz and Eaker enjoy good Web coverage.
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UPLOADED: 09/30/07 REVISED: 03/24/08, 03/05/09, 06/29/09, 03/11/10
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