Western Air Express Fokker F-14

Additional Information:

The Fokker F-14 was a seven/nine passenger transport aircraft designed by Fokker and built by their Atlantic Aircraft factory in New Jersey. The F-14 was a typical Fokker designed single-engine transport with an unusual parasol-type high wing supported by struts above the fuselage. The aircraft also had fixed tailwheel landing gear. The pilot was seated in a cockpit located behind the passenger cabin.

Western Air Express (WAE) was based in Los Angeles, California and began operations on May 23, 1926 with an initial route from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City carrying U.S. mail and occasional passengers. On May 15, 1929, the carrier began the first scheduled passenger airline service to New Mexico with a route from Los Angeles to Albuquerque that made stops at Kingman and Holbrook, Arizona using a Fokker F-10 tri-motor. Two weeks later on June 1, 1929, the route was extended eastward from Albuquerque to Kansas City with stops at Amarillo and Wichita. WAE operated many other aircraft types during its service within New Mexico including the Fokker F-7, F-14, F-32, F-Super Universal, Douglas M2, Lockheed 5A Vega, and Clark GA-43. Some of these aircraft however were only used to transport mail which was the primary focus for airline operations during that time. A ticket office was opened in downtown Albuquerque at the Hotel Franciscan. The Western Air Express name was changed to Western Air Lines in 1941 and the carrier nearly merged with Continental Airlines in 1978.

The Fokker F-14 single engine aircraft was used to fly smaller loads into Albuquerque beginning in 1929 when WAE began mail and passenger service on its east-to-west flights. Several of the aircraft that landed in Albuquerque were identified as NC129M, NC327N, NC328N, NC331N, and NC150H.

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