Fokker C-2 Transport 28-120, The "Question Mark"

At right, Fokker C-2 Transport 28-120, "Question Mark", landed at Tucson on January 21, 1929 at 4:15PM. The pilot was Carl Spatz. Spatz and his crew remained overnight at Tucson, departing at 7:00AM next morning. The location of this image is unknown, but see this link for an image of Spatz and the "Question Mark" on the ground at Tucson on the 21st.

"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 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. Queseda are listed in the Pilot field in the Register.

Someone wrote "Question Mark" in the Passenger field. 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

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UPLOADED: 09/30/07 REVISED: 03/24/08