Curtiss Wright B-14-R Words of Recognition
N12311
What do Elizabeth Taylor, Anheuser Busch, and air racing in the Golden Age of Aviation all have in common? A fellow named Casey Lambert of course. Lambert was the scion of a wealthy St. Louis family who turned seventeen, dropped out of school in 1926, and bought his first airplane. In his privileged and fascinating life, he dated movie stars, shot skeet with a President, served in the Navy in World War II, built a successful business, and saw his local airport named after his family (Lambert Field in St. Louis).
Along the way he served as a test pilot for the Air National Guard, became related to August Busch by the marriage of his mother, and raced airplanes. That’s where NR 12311 enters the story. The Curtiss Wright Corporation was a survivor of the stock market crash in 1929 and began to gobble up other aviation-related companies. One of those it consumed was the Travel Air Company who were busily at work modifying and modernizing their 4000 series. One of the results of that became an airplane specifically designed for air racing and for one pilot in particular: Casey Lambert.
Lambert’s new “Speedwing” as it came to be known was completed in October of 1931 and was issued a Restricted Airworthiness Certificate for Racing under registration number NR12311. When I first read that, I did a double take as you may be doing, and thought perhaps what I was reading was a typo. Familiar with the designations “NC”, “NX” and plain old “N” I’d never seen that before.
According to FAA records Lambert flew the airplane a lot and it accumulated nearly 600 hours of flying time before it was sold back to Curtiss Wright at the end of 1937. It is lost to history why Lambert sold the plane and why he bought it back. But he did do that just six months later in May of 1938.
Lambert’s new Speedwing was the only one ever built though Curtiss Wright did build two similar aircraft designated B-14-B’s. One major difference in the two models was the B-14-R’s Wright Aeronautical R-975-E2 motor which put out 400 horsepower compared to the B-14-B’s 300 horsepower from a different, but similar Wright engine. Of course, Lambert’s plane was built for racing and the other two were for “sporting” purposes. One B-14-B survives, the other having been destroyed shortly after it was built, and is owned by Walt Bowe in his Ala Doble Collection.
That is where I first saw this huge, muscular but beautiful biplane with its enormous round motor, smooth NACA cowl, and aggressive stance. Walt’s airplane is stunning in its orange and black livery and stood out among all the other incredible airplanes in his collection like a Heisman winner at a little league game. I remember standing there in the sun reading all I could find on my phone about its history and trying to see if it had a twin somewhere. Unfortunately, it didn’t but I thought about it often over the next two years as other beautiful planes passed in and out of my attention.
In July of 2024, I was at Poplar Grove Airport outside of Rockford, Illinois working with Rob Lock and Les Banta to get my Waco UMF 3 ready to go to Airventure. As he invariably does Steve Thomas had made room for us in one of his hangars for a few days on our way. If you know Steve you know he’s a terrific fellow, fun to be around, and runs the best airport in the country. That hot July day Steve had put us right in next to a beautiful yellow and black biplane standing in a puddle of oil looking as guilty as a six-month-old pointer someone mistakenly left in the house.
And, just like a prized and pedigreed bird dog NC 12311 squatted powerfully on its haunches daring you to admire it. Which I did. But not for long as there was still work to do, a schedule to keep, and just like with a bird dog, shoes to clean.
Late that year, when the grass on the fairway-like runways had turned brown and the wind cold Rob told me Steve wanted to sell his Speedwing. I watch my sons blazing blazing-fast fingers fly over the surface of their phones texting friends but I’m sure they could not have matched my speed in reaching out to Steve. We spent a pleasant hour talking about the plane and, after telling me the price, I told him I wanted to buy it if he would sell it to me. Steve is a fair guy and we didn’t quibble. But there was something else he had to do first. He’d agreed to sell it a year earlier to someone else who hadn’t been able to buy it and he felt he deserved a last opportunity. Steve is also an honorable guy.
A few restless days later we spoke again. He could sell it to me after all though first he wanted his shop to annual the plane and take care of a couple of small issues. He wanted it to be at its best when I picked it up and he didn’t want any money until it was ready. My word was good enough. Steve is my kind of guy. As we talked, I asked if he’d taken this masterpiece to Airventure. He hadn’t. Too busy. However, he agreed that I could leave the plane with him until next summer since KOSH is just about 100 miles away. We also talked about the amazing story of this incredible airplane’s return to the air after nearly sixty years on its back. That story is to be found on the restoration page.
