ID this plane please

[kegaro]

Thank you - the tail is almost spot on! I'm starting to think our artist put together the bits he liked in a few planes, or did it from memory. The search for my mystery aircraft has taken me to a few expected places - I didn't know about Armstrong Whitworth. I found "The Whistling Wheelbarrow"! I have contacted the Canadian Aviation Museum to see if there's anything like an Atlantic crossing to explain the linked flags and maple leaf.

 

[ThomasP]

It may have to do with the use of the AW.23 for inflight refueling experiments for cross-Atlantic flights.

 

[Barry Bromley]

OK, I think I know what this is. It's a brass Cribbage board. Card game scorer. What the emblems are I have no idea but it is definitely a Crib board.

 

[kegaro]

Thank you Barry - yes a cribbage board. I have 70 of them. Doing a sortout the other day for a display and it finally occurred to me to chase down the origin of this one. The flags are linked Union Jack and the former Canadian flag - topped by a maple leaf. That's why I'm chasing a possible UK/Canada link in the late 30's or 40's. And of course the aircraft which seems to have features of various aircraft of the time. A lot of commemorative boards have information - this one nothing. Makes it more mysterious.

 

[Barry Bromley]

What it might be is from an old Trans Canada Airlines aircraft. Maybe as part of the passenger cabin entertainment! Another guess for the aeroplane is the Lockheed Loadstar. They used these back in the 30's. Maybe the emblems are the old TCA ones.(?)

 

[kegaro]

You could be onto something Barry! When I started I just image searched my plane ... and this one didn't come up. Props right, choppy front to the cockpit, wings about the same. But that pesky tail is the problem. I've found a near match on the Junkers G31. The whole thing could just be a 'flight of fancy' for the artist. But the search continues.

 

[GreenKnight121]

Early examples of the Boeing 247 had the forward-sloped cockpit windows as well.

 

[kegaro]

Had a look at that one ... but the longer the search goes on, it seems likely that my little plane had a combination of various features. With a tail that doesn't seem to match anything.

 

[pb43]

Capelis XC-12

No

 

[pb43]

I'm sorry, I can't find a forum for this question, so please be kind. I collect cribbage boards. I have one with a plane and what looks like a draped union jack flag, another flag and a maple leaf. I can chase the flags and insignia, but any input to the plane would be great. Thank you.

AW.23 much closer

 

[kegaro]

Yes have looked at the AW-23. The tail is close ... but there's that extended fuselage in the centre. The AW-23 has the same flat-looking top to the fuselage - more so than other suggestions. Maybe the artist got the tail setup wrong when he was doing the etching. Plus the AW-23 is a wartime aircraft, with the front bubble. Was it ever a passenger plane? The more I look at it, the more I think the artist would have copied a craft in regular usage - not the once-off Capelis, with no connection to Canada as per the flags and maple leaf.

 

[Elvis]

The cockpit windows and the basic shape remind of me a Boeing 247.

 

[kegaro]

Thank you - yes it's close in those areas. But the search continues for that pesky double tailfin.

 

[pbehn]

Looks like a stylised Fiat Br 20 Cicogna, which for a brief period was seen as among the most advanced on the world and stripped down versions were used in some races.

From wiki
When, near the end of 1936, the 13° Stormo Bombardamento Terrestre (in Lonate Pozzolo) was equipped with the "Cicognas" it was probably the most modern bombing unit in the world at that time.[4] Shortly after entering service with the Regia Aeronautica, the aircraft became central to the propaganda campaign lauding Italian engineering. During 1937, a pair of stripped-down BR.20s, designated as the BR.20A, were custom-built for entry into the prestigious Istres–Damascus air race;[11] these aircraft were able to obtain sixth and seventh place in the race while rivals S.M.79s achieved the first place, the Fiat-built bomber being obviously slower. The BR.20A featured a rounded nose, similar to civil aircraft, while all of the normal military hardware, such as defensive turrets, had been removed. In its place, the internal fuel capacity was increased to 7,700 L (2,034 US gal), bringing the maximum range to 6,200 km (3,850 mi).[10][23]

A Regia Aeronautica BR.20, 1938
During 1939, a modified long-range BR.20 version, designated as the BR.20L, named Santo Francesco under the command of Maner Lualdi performed a highly publicised non-stop flight from Rome to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during which an average speed of 390 km/h (240 mph) was recorded.[24][25] The modified aircraft carried 5,000 L (1,321 US gal) of fuel which increased its range from 3,000 km (1,864 mi) to 4,500 km (2,800 mi). The BR.20L was also used to test a newly developed autopilot built by Microtecnica.[19]

 

[kegaro]

Thank you, that is so close. The tail is the best of any so far and the other features are similar - except for the armaments. The connection with the flags is still elusive.

 

[pbehn]

Thank you, that is so close. The tail is the best of any so far and the other features are similar - except for the armaments. The connection with the flags is still elusive.

The types entered in races were not armed but streamlined., and the rectangular windows are also almost identical along with cockpit design. If you google it there were many versions, one may have inspired an artist of the era.

 

[Barry Bromley]

I think your search should be for aircraft flown by early Canadian airlines. It is more likely they flew the early Lockheeds and Boeings. I think I am right that this is an on-board game item for passengers. That emblem with the maple leaf and jacks screams some early airline. The etching of the plane is just stylised to make it sleek and aerodynamic.

 

[kegaro]

Thank you, I understood there was a streamlined version. The Cicogna without armaments is very close to my plane. I looked for information on any race or flight outside Europe/North Africa. The flags suggest a commemoration of some event. One looks like Union Jack, the other the former Canadian flag, Australian or NZ. And the maple leaf. There has been a suggestion that it's possibly linked to Amelia Earhart's flight, as it's similar to the Lockheed 10-E Electra, bar the tail. That would be an example of an artist viewing an image and possibly getting the tail wrong. Our artist would have been in Canada or the UK or the antipodes - I don't think cribbage is a European game.

 

[kegaro]

Thank you Barry Bromley, I hadn't thought of it being an on-board thing, which gives another avenue rather than commemoration. Opens up a whole new avenue. It seems Canada has it's own cribbage game.

 

[pbehn]

Thank you, I understood there was a streamlined version. The Cicogna without armaments is very close to my plane. I looked for information on any race or flight outside Europe/North Africa. The flags suggest a commemoration of some event. One looks like Union Jack, the other the former Canadian flag, Australian or NZ. And the maple leaf. There has been a suggestion that it's possibly linked to Amelia Earhart's flight, as it's similar to the Lockheed 10-E Electra, bar the tail. That would be an example of an artist viewing an image and possibly getting the tail wrong. Our artist would have been in Canada or the UK or the antipodes - I don't think cribbage is a European game.

AFAIK Cribbage is played all over the English speaking world, I have certainly seen it played in England.