Apparently built in 1929, by which time the Breese company was located around Portland. Reportedly owned by Varney Air Lines which started passenger services from Portland in 1929. Other photos show NC837H damaged at Swan Island after a windstorm in February 1930. There is also information that a Breese prototype, NC534 or NX534, was built for Varney in 1927, but rejected. The Breese 5 is best known for the 1927 Dole Air Race to Hawaii. Photo from: The Oregon Journal / Oregon Historical Society

Painted yellow and red with a Hawaiian garland, Aloha was the second and last finisher in the Dole Air Race. Navigator Paul Schluter, a seaman, did a great dead-reckoning job but only got $25 of the $10,000 second prize. Pilot Martin Jensen had hired him through a classified newspaper ad and did warn Schluter that he needed any prize money to pay his debts. One photo shows the reg as NC914, not NX914, but it does not seem to have been worn during the race. Photo from: San Diego Air & Space Museum

The Breese Model 5 was designed for the Dole Air Race. This machine was flown solo by Maj Livingston Irving, who served with the 103rd Aero Squadron in France in 1918 - note the unit's Indian head insignia. Irving crashed the heavy-loaded aircraft on his second take-off attempt. The registration was not worn on race day. Sister aircraft NX914 Aloha was one of only two contenders to reach Hawaii. Photo from: San Diego Air & Space Museum