1937 Bennett BTC-1 — Built by the Man Behind the Spirit of St. Louis For Sale

1937 Bennett BTC-1 Built by the Man Behind the Spirit of St. Louis
The Man Behind It Later Invented the Airstream TrailerDESCRIPTIONOriginal vintage press photograph of the Bennett BTC-1 Executive, an all-wood twin-engine transport of which exactly one example was ever built. The registration NC18960 is visible on the rudder, and the plane sits on a grass ramp in front of an orchard backdrop, consistent with a Texas airfield setting of the period.The BTC-1 was conceived by aviation entrepreneur F. C. "Bub" Merrill, who wanted a twin-engine transport that could compete with the Beechcraft 18 on performance while beating it on price through wood construction instead of expensive metal tooling. Financing came from Texas oilman Frank C. Bennett, whose name the aircraft carried. What makes this plane more than a footnote is who actually built it. Per the San Diego Air and Space Museum's own Hall of Fame biography, the BTC-1 was constructed in 1937 by William Hawley Bowlus, the aircraft designer who served as Superintendent of Construction on Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis a decade earlier. Bowlus was already a legend in molded wood and plywood aircraft structures by 1937, having built the first American-designed sailplane and founded the Bowlus Sailplane Company. He used the BTC-1 to pioneer an early use of composite construction in aircraft, building the airframe from Duraloid, a resin-impregnated plywood. Bowlus went on to even wider fame as the designer of the aluminum-bodied Road Chief travel trailer, the direct predecessor that inspired Wally Byam's Airstream Clipper.This aircraft's civil registration shifted from an experimental X-prefix to the NC18960 marking visible in this photo once it received CAA type approval on November 1, 1937, meaning this image documents the plane after it had cleared that milestone. No production orders ever followed. The company eventually reorganized into the Globe Aircraft Corporation, maker of the popular postwar Globe Swift and 600 Beech AT-10 Wichita trainers built under wartime contract, before Globe itself went bankrupt in 1947. Aviation history records indicate this individual BTC-1 airframe remained in service until 1948, outlasting the company name it was built under by several years.This print carries genuine photographer provenance. The reverse bears the rubber stamp of Gordon S. Williams of Seattle, Washington, a Pacific Northwest aviation photographer active through the 1930s, along with his archive catalog number U507 and a period handwritten note recording seven passenger seats and all-plywood construction. Scanned at 600dpi so every detail of the aircraft and the archival notations on the back can be examined closely.Every effort is made for fact checking and provenance including background research through news and historical archives. If any listing is incorrect in any way and you're unsatisfied with the item, please connect with me and I'll make it right. Orders placed before Noon CDT will ship same day Ground Advantage with tracking so you know exactly when it will arrive. Returns accepted on all items exceeding $25 in cost. Rigid, professional packaging on all shipments sealed and protected in acid free protectors. Shipping is free and already built into the price, so the BIN price is exactly what you pay, no surprise shipping costs at checkout.CONDITIONVintage black and white snapshot print measuring approximately 2 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches, with a clean white border and light, even toning consistent with age. The image is sharp and well focused throughout, with the aircraft, landing gear, and background orchard and power line clearly resolved. Corners and edges are clean with no tears or creases. The reverse carries the typed manufacturer caption, the Gordon S. Williams photographer stamp, a period handwritten note, and a later collector annotation in blue pencil, all fully legible.