Sierra Airways

NC97W (serial number 149) is a Pitcairn PA-7S Super Sport Mailwing. This sport variant of the PA-7 was designed and optimized for the sport aviation enthusiast, not for carrying mail. Because of this, the front compartment that housed mail in the "M" variants instead contained a bench seat, an additional set of controls, and room for baggage in the "S" variant.

This aircraft was originally purchased from the Pitcairn factory in 1930 by a private owner named Chester A. Snow. After a landing incident, it was back at the Pitcairn factory for remanufacture, and significant upgrades were made to meet the most modern standards of the day. These upgrades included Dzus fasteners and air wheels.

After the 1935 remanufacture, the aircraft was flown to Burbank, California. It was then damaged in a ground loop and subsequently repaired. On the initial test flight after these repairs, 97W was AGAIN ground looped, causing more extensive damage. In lieu of repairing the aircraft for a third time, the decision was made to sell.

The mechanic who rebuilt it, Harry Campbell, bought 97W and optimized it for flying in the high Sierras.

In 1939, NC97W was purchased by Walter Hallberg and Westley Austin, owners of the fledgling Sierra Airways. Walt and Wes were aviation enthusiasts in Los Angeles hoping to break into the flying game themselves. (See “High Sierra Airways” article by Albert Latimer, Western Flying, Dec 1940)

Each year, avid outdoorsmen and women would ride on horseback upwards of twelve hours just to arrive at their camps in the Sierra Mountains. They would then hunt, fish, and eventually make the return journey. Hallberg and Austin sought to make this expedition more accessible with a commercial air service utilizing Forestry Department airfields. Before they could test out this idea, however, they needed an airplane that was up to the task.

First and foremost, they needed an aircraft capable of outclimbing the foreboding mountains of the High Sierras and performing at high altitude airfields with a heavy payload. Additionally, they needed reliability, as the only way to make money in this endeavor was through multiple flights per day. The PA-7S Mailwing was uniquely suited to all of these requirements, and 97W was acquired by Hallberg and Austin in 1939.

A round trip hunting excursion with Sierra Airways cost $12.50 in 1940, or around $299 today. Operating out of Lone Pine and Olancha airfields, Sierra Airways brought hunters to and from the hunting grounds in a fraction if the time it would take on horseback - 25 minutes instead of twelve hours. 

NC97W spent the next two years as the Sierra Airways workhorse. Hunters and anglers would load up at Lone Pine or Olancha airfields and be dropped off at Monache, Templeton, or Tunnel Meadow. Flying in the High Sierras was an inherently dangerous endeavor. The airstrips all exist above 8,000 feet and most are one way in, one way out. Some are situated in boxed canyons, requiring precise escape paths and high climb gradients.

During peak hunting season, 97W took as many as seventeen trips per day!

Interestingly, the RAF (Recreational Aviation Foundation) has just announced (July, 2026) that the Monache Meadows airstrip has been reopened!

97W’s time at Sierra Airways came to an end on 1 October 1940 when it was flipped on its back at Monache Meadows. This is the state the aircraft was in when it was stored until Walter Hallberg started the rebuild in 1982, continued by John Desmond in 2009, and then completed by John Machamer (with the help of his wife, Karen) in July of 2026.

Total time on 97W was 1440:10 hours on 1 October, 1940.

It wouldn’t fly again until 15 July, 2026.

The unfortunate incident in October of 1940 turned this project into a time capsule. It went largely untouched for 86 years, meaning most of the original components and features stayed with it.