Yellowstone Genealogy Forum
Bluebird – Designed by A. B. Green
Revised 20 June 2001c
The National Airplane and Motor Co., had its plant located at 4th Ave N and 27th Street in 1935. A. B. Green was founder and president of the company. The Bluebird weighed 453 pounds and could carry a 450-pound payload. It was a two-passenger craft, with a wingspan of 35 feet, and could cruise at 75 mph. It had a steel fuselage, and the wings were fabric covered. It had a cruising range of 350 miles. The factory employed eight people, and was located on the 2nd floor of the Midland Sash and Door Plant. Other investors were: Jeff Tingle and R. L. Jones. Green became interested in aeronautics in 1906, and in 1910 he built his first dirigible in Nebraska.. He was an experimental flyer during WWI. He claimed that after two hours of instruction anyone could fly the craft.
He attempted to get governmental financing to enter mass-production, but was unsuccessful. He completed four planes. After the rejection, he abandoned the business and started teaching aviation to high school students. He was killed in 1944 in an auto accident near Roberts. [His wife, Elma, provided details for this article to the Gazette in 1960 from her scrapbook.]