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New Standard D25

The New Standard Aircraft Company, was established in 1927 as the Gates-Day Aircraft
Company by Charles Healy Day and Ivan R. “Van” Gates, was headquartered in
Paterson, NJ. The “new” in New Standard referred to the Standard Aircraft Company,
which was one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the United States during WWI,
with Day being responsible for the design of its most prevalent design, the J-1, which
alongside the Curtiss JN-4D Jenny, was one of the most mass-produced and widely
used American aircraft of the First World War. Similar to the Jenny, Standard J-1s were
also sold for surplus at cheap prices and flown by numerous barnstormers of the
1920s.

Originally, the company offered updated versions of the J-1, but with interest in aviation
surging following Lindbergh’s crossing of the Atlantic, the Gates-Day Aircraft was
rebranded the New Standard Aircraft Company, and soon produced its magnum opus,
the D-25 (so named for it was the 25th design of Charles H. Day). The New Standard D-
25 was a sesquiplane (a type of biplane where one wing is smaller than the other), with
the top wing having a span of 45 feet. It was a rugged design that had a forward section
that could seat four passengers while the pilot sat in a single-place cockpit in the rear.
The D-25 was the perfect joyrider, and its cruising speed of 95 mph also lent itself to
being adept for barnstormers and wingwalkers.

The aircraft was also used for crop-spraying and mail-carrying, and a few were even
reportedly used for bootlegging during the Prohibition era. However, the New Standard
Aircraft Company was also a victim of the Great Depression, going bankrupt in 1931,
shortly after Charles Day sold his interests in the company. But while the company did
not last, the New Standard D-25 and variants of it remained. Seven D25s are known to
exist.

VFM’s New Standard D-25 is construction number 143

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