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?

Below - Article printed in April 1955, EAA Experimenter, pg. 6. Please note, some of the information presented in this article is INCORRECT! Foster Hannaford never owned the rights to Rose Aeroplane and Motor Co. or the Rose Parrakeet! There is no attribution for the photo of N34254 or the article, however editors for the publication at this time were Paul Poberezney, Robert Nolinski and Leo Kohn..

This page has been archived from the original Rose Parrakeet Pilot Club website. It is presented for educational and reference purposes only.

The NORTHROP ALPHA 2 NC11Y Page of the Davis-Monthan Airfield Register Website (dmairfield.org)

An interesting biographical aside regarding owner Hannaford appears on a Web page that describes homes in St. Paul, MN. One of the homes, at 875 West Osceola Avenue, was owned by Foster Hannaford. Using Google Earth, you can see this home today, still with its detached garage. The description of the home and Hannaford's ownership and aviation interests are quoted below.

"875 West Osceola Avenue: Built in 1907. The structure is a two story, 2643 square foot, ten room, four bedroom, two bathroom, two half-bathroom, frame house, with a detached garage. The 1918 city directory indicates that Mr. and Mrs. Foster Hannaford resided at this address. The 1930 city directory indicates that Adam J. Holmes resided at this address.

"Foster Hannaford (1888-1981) was the son of Jule Murat Hannaford and was a 1908 graduate of the Yale University Sheffield School. Alice Steel Ide Hannaford (1888-1975,) the daughter of Mrs. Charles Ide, who was a sculptress who exhibited at the National Academy and who made her debut in 1908, was the wife of Foster Hannaford.

"Foster Hannaford was interested in airplanes. In 1935, a Northrop Alpha, piloted by R. S. LeRoy, had an accident near St. Clairsville, Ohio. The aircraft was salvaged and the remains were sold in 1938 to Foster Hannaford, Jr., of Minneapolis, who planned to rebuild the aircraft and retained the registration as late as 1948. In 1945, Hannaford also purchased an intact Northrop Alpha NC11Y that had been flown by Charles Lindbergh and he stored both airframes in a barn. In 1971, the aircraft were acquired by the Experimental Aircraft Association, TWA Technical Services Center, Kansas City, Missouri, restored NC11Y, and it was on display at the National Air and Space Museum in 2003.

"An aircraft manufactured under license to Jack Rose in 1947 by Blackhawk Aircraft Company was registered, but did not complete the certification process and was sold to Foster Hannaford, along with four incomplete airframes in 1948. Foster Hannaford had a license from Jack Rose to manufacture and sell five Hannaford Rose A-4 Parrakeets per year. In 1950, the Hannaford Aircraft Company completed and sold it's first Hannaford A-4 as an experimental airplane.

"Sometime between 1948 and the early 1950's, Rose came to believe that Hannaford had violated their agreement and filed an injunction against Hannaford Aircraft, which was settled out of court. By 1955, plans marketed as Hannaford Bee Model D-1, but in fact copies of the Rose Parrakeet plans were sold for $85 by Hannaford Aircraft Company.

"Foster Hannaford also collected Medieval manuscripts. In 2002, Ogden Hannaford and other heirs of Foster Hannaford of Winnetka, Illinois, gave to the Oberlin College Library a complete medieval manuscript in original bindings, a 15th century missal of German origin that contains a full set of liturgical calendars and extensive hand coloring.

"There is a Foster Hannaford Recognition Award for distinguished service at the North Shore Country Day School of Winnetka, Illinois. Alice Ide Hannaford was a correspondent with Booker T. Washington. R. Ogden Hannaford was a son of and Priscilla Hannaford Greeley, Taylor Hannaford Churchill, and Charlotte Hannaford Drake were daughters of Foster Hannaford and Alice Ide Hannaford. Mary Eva Gay Hannaford (1916-1999,) the daughter of Edward Elias Gay and Etta Deen Wright Gay, was born in Springdale, Arkansas, was the wife of Foster Hannaford, Jr., and died in Kankakee, Illinois. The last sale of this property was in 1993 and the sale price was $276,000. The current owners of record of the property are ...."