Wien Alaska Airlines  Fairchild 71  NC10623             (c/n  647)

                                 

                                       This old Fairchild was purchased by Noel Wien sometime in the late 1930s or early 1940s.  The
                                       image above is from the Ted Spencer collection and shows the aircraft on Chena Slough in down-
                                       town Fairbanks.  The (very blurry) color shot below is from the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum
                                       archives and illustrates the machine being launched into the Chena River in 1941.    Both images
                                       via Lars Opland.