Army Jennies Go Navy 1922 Curtiss JN-4H
Jenny Biplane Vintage Photo A-6242
US Navy ex-War Dept trainers, A-6200, Wheatley Coll.DESCRIPTIONVintage black and white photograph of Curtiss JN-4H Jenny biplanes lined up on a sandy, scrub-edged field, dated December 1922 in the collector\'s notation on the reverse. The number 6200 is clear on the fuselage of one aircraft, and the number on its neighbor is partly hidden but consistent with the A-6242 written on the back. At least one more Jenny stands at the far left, the engine compartments are covered with canvas, and men in white caps are gathered along the line. The reverse carries a hand-lettered blue ink notation reading War Dept JN-4H A-6242, etc, Dec 1922, along with E.J. Wheatley Coll. The photograph shown is the exact print you will receive, scanned at 600 dpi.The numbers are the story. Navy and Marine Corps serials A-6193 through A-6247 are recorded as Curtiss JN-4HT Jennies transferred from the War Department, which lines up with the War Dept note on this print and places both visible numbers inside that block. The JN-4H, Curtiss Model 1E, was the Hispano-Suiza powered Jenny, and the HT was its dual-control trainer version. The last serial in the block, A-6247, is recorded at the Marine base on Parris Island, South Carolina, so these were aircraft used by both Navy and Marine aviation.Little about the Navy\'s Jenny fleet was homegrown. According to one history, the Navy had 76 Jennies in service in November 1919, received 216 more from the Army between 1920 and 1923, and was down to 22 by the end of 1926. A December 1922 lineup like this one falls inside that transfer window. At the same time surplus Jennies were being sold to civilians for a few hundred dollars, and within months of this photograph Charles Lindbergh paid $500 for his own at Americus, Georgia, and soloed it in the spring of 1923. The Marines already knew the type, having flown Jennies in Haiti and the Dominican Republic since 1919, and the Army itself kept flying Jennies until 1927.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 are unsatisfied with the item, please connect with me and I will make it right. Orders placed before Noon CDT ship the same day via USPS Ground Advantage with tracking so you know exactly when it will arrive. Returns are accepted on all items over $25. Every shipment is sealed in rigid, professional packaging with 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 print on cream, textured paper in good condition with normal age wear. The image is soft with visible grain, as is typical of a distant subject, and the Jennies in the center hold the most detail. Scattered small dust specks and a few tiny dark spots appear in the sky, including one small dark mark near the upper left edge. No tears, creases or losses are visible in the scans. The reverse is blank apart from the blue ink notations described above and shows light age toning. Photographer, print date and print generation are not identified, so the December 1922 date comes from the collector\'s notation.
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Army Jennies Go Navy 1922 Curtiss JN-4H Jenny Biplane Vintage Photo A-6242
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