Fokker F.VII C-2

The C-2 was the military transport version of the Fokker F-9 built by the Atlantic Aircraft Corporation for the US Army Air Corps: three 220 hp Wright J-5 radials, two pilots and ten passengers. Three were built in 1926.

On 28–29 June 1927 lieutenants Lester Maitland and Albert Hegenberger flew the C-2 Bird of Paradise from the continental United States to Hawaii — some 3,862 km — on the first transpacific flight in history. It was a demonstration of navigation as much as of endurance: finding an archipelago in mid-ocean was no small matter in 1927.

Barely two days later, on 1 July 1927, Richard E. Byrd, Bernt Balchen and two others flew the civilian-owned C-2 America (NX206) on the first official transatlantic airmail, ditching off the coast of France at the end of the flight.