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Hannaford Aircraft Co,
Foster Hannaford, Jr., Owner (b. 6 Dec 1913, d. Oct 1971)
Glenview, IL (by 1957 the address is listed as
Mundelein, IL)
Since 1923: (as noted on plan sets sold for Hannaford Model D-1)
Please Note that most of the information I have seen regarding Foster Hannaford and Hannaford Aircraft Co., Inc. has come from accounts of Jack
Rose or accounts retold by others based on their association with Jack Rose. Some information can be gleaned from plans and printed material published by Hannaford. Some additional
information is contained in CAA/FAA registry and air worthiness documents.
According to plans sold by Foster Hannaford, Jr., Hannaford Aircraft Co. had been in business since 1923. (Started by his father or
just hyperbolae?) I do not know what he did prior to his association with Jack Rose. However Jack Rose states in his recounting to John Underwood (Bib #5) that, "... Soon afterward I received an
inquiry from another young fellow [Hannaford] who had his eye on the Parrakeet. He was wealthy and owned several airplanes." It is also not clear to me exactly when that association began, but
certainly prior to March, 1948. In his book "Flying with 40 Horses" (Bib.#11)
, Chester Peek asserts that "After the war, Rose sold the manufacturing rights to a Foster Hannaford, who started advertising and
assembling aircraft from leftover parts." It is widely believed that Hannaford acquired at least two airframes (S/N 109 & S/N 110) left over from the pre-WWII Rose Aeroplane & Motor Co.
"Parrakeet" production and sold them as "Hannaford Parrakeet", "Hannaford A-4" or "Hannaford Bee". However, Jack Rose never mentions left over airframes to John Underwood (Bib. #5). Instead, he specifically states that he welded up five airframes for Blackhawk Aircraft Co. [sometime in 1946 or early 1947] only one of which was completed before BlackHawk Aircraft Co. failed due to under capitalization. Rose then tells Underwood, "... He [Hannaford] subsequently arranged to to take over the Blackhawk inventory of unfinished airplanes."
FAA registration documents confirm this sequence. One airframe, S/N A400, N40100 was sold to Anthony Ingrassia, owner of
Blackhawk Aircraft Co. in April 1947 as a "Parrakeet". Blackhawk applied for and received registration and experimental airwothiness certificates in April, 1947. Hannaford purchased this
aircraft form Blackhawk on 30 March, 1948 and subsequently applied for registration and airworthiness certificate as a "HANNAFORD (Blackhawk Rose)" with an "experimental" type certificate. This is
apparently the aircraft Hannaford was using to obtain his own Type 2 Airworthiness Certificate for production of the "Hannaford A-4". See more about the N40100 story here.
CAA/FAA documents also confirm that one airframe, a Hannaford A-4, S/N 01, N34253 was sold by Hannaford Aircraft Co. to Roy Pavlik in 1950. The 1955 article to the left shows N34254, which was the third
Hannaford A-4, S/N A4-02. Unfortunately, the photo at the left is the only record that this aircraft existed. No CAA/FAA documents for N34254 have been found to date (4/12/07), but further
research into FAA documents has been requested. It is logical to assume that Hannaford actually acquired all four uncompleted airframes from Blackhawk and subsequently sold S/N 03 and S/N 04 as kit
parts to enthusiastic experimental aircraft builders in the mid to late 50's.
Other sources assert that Hannaford was only licensed to produce kit parts, but that seems unlikely in light of the existence of the
uncompleted airframes left over from Blackhawk Rose production and Dorr Carpenter's assertion (Bib. #9) that the licensing agreement between Rose and Hannaford had the following stipulations:
1. All aircraft built would be known as the "Rose Parrakeet"
2. Hannaford would sell no drawings.
3. Hannaford was licensed to build five aircraft per year, using drawings supplied by Rose.
4. Rose was to be paid a set price per aircraft.
5. Any STC's granted would be in the name of the Rose Aeroplane & Motor Co.
It is widely believed to have been an unwritten agreement. So if any of those stipulations were actually spelled out or
understood is unknown. Regardless, it is clear that the business arrangement between Rose and Hannaford went sour. There is a letter from the CAA to Jack Rose informing him that Foster
Hannaford had requested copies of the Rose Parrakeet plans/certification documentation, however they would not release them without Mr. Rose's approval. Jack Rose apparently threatened legal
action if Hannaford continued with his efforts to certify the "Hannaford A-4" ( or "Hannaford Bee" ) using the Rose Aeroplane & Motor Co. owned Type Certificate 2-514.
Although Foster
Hannaford ceased to sell airframes and kit parts, he did sell the plans from 1956 thru 1971. Plans may have continued to be sold by his widow well into the 80's According to the 1973
article written by Paul Poberezny (Bib. #7), Foster Hannaford, Jr. joined the EAA in 1954. His member number was 660. Foster Hannaford had a glowing and possibly misleading article published
about the Hannaford Bee in the April 1955, EAA Experimenter. He also flew N40100
to the August 1955, EAA National Fly-In in Milwaukee, WI. Hannaford Aircraft Co. plans drawn up by Stanley Dzik (also an early EAA member w/ EAA #15) and copyrighted 1956, do not use the words "Rose", "Parrakeet" or "Bee" but simply show "Model D-1" in the title block. In 1957, Foster Hannaford sold S/N 00, N40100 to Stan Dizk for $1. See Stan Dzik Photo.
At least one experimental aircraft completed in the late 50s was built from plans marketed by Hannaford Aircraft Co. and possibly used "kit parts", which were
actually left over from Blackhawk Aircraft Co. A-4 Parrakeet production. N4048A was registered in 1959 as a "Hannaford Bee Model D-1" also with an "experimental" type certificate. Other experimental aircraft in the 50's and early 60's were referred to as "Rose Parrakeet", "Hannaford Parrakeet", "Hannaford Bee".
Foster Hannaford, Jr. died in an automobile accident near Waukesha, Wisconsin in 1971. According to the same Sport Aviation article quoted above, in 1973, Paul Poberezny and his moving crew discovered, "Both in the barn and an old trailer were parts and jigs for the old Rose/Hannaford 'Parrakeet'". So what happened to them and where did they end up?
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