Louis fuselage frame and 425-gallon tank with background opaqued white. Ryan NYP Fuselage Internal Structure, Fuel Tank, and Cockpit Cutaway Study (1927)

Engineering cutaway study of the Spirit of St. — Louis fuselage frame and 425-gallon tank with background opaqued white. Ryan NYP Fuselage Internal Structure, Fuel Tank, and Cockpit Cutaway Study (1927) · Donald A. Hall Estate Collection

An archival engineering cutaway photograph documenting the uncovered fuselage framework of the Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis. Exposed on 4x5 sheet film by Donald A. Hall Sr., the factory background was painstakingly opaqued with masking fluid in the darkroom to isolate the airframe. The study reveals the welded chrome-molybdenum fuselage truss, the 425-gallon main fuel tank positioned forward of the cockpit on the center of gravity, copper plumbing lines, the throttle quadrant, and the master instrument panel.