The Henry Pigeon Mast & Spar Co. was founded in Boston, Mass. by Henry Pigeon in 1830. It became the Pigeon Hollow Spar Co. (same location) in 1900 (owner/mgrs.: Fred Pigeon, Roy Pigeon). The company also built automobiles and gondolas for airships prior to their foray into the airplane field.
Developed for George N. Albree under the Albree-Timson patents, the Model 9 Albree Scout, or Pigeon-Fraser Scout (also found as the Timson-Albree Scout) was produced in 1917 in four examples, two of which were evaluated by the U.S. Army Air Service as Nos. 116 and 117, but ultimately rejected. It was a unique scout monoplane design powered by a choice of either 50 hp Gnome, 100hp Gnome or Novus rotary engine.ultimately rejected by Army.
Only another aircraft is known to have been produced by the Pigeon company, the sole Thomas-Pigeon Flying Boat of 1919, a single-seat flying boat developed with Reginald Thomas. Subsequently, the company became a subcontractor for a number of aircraft manufacturers including the Burgess and Sturtevant Companies and for the U.S. Army and Navy for specialty and custom wood assembles for aviation use. The company also produced the airship control cars for the U.S. Navy's Model B airships, and the rear hollow spars for all four Curtiss NC flying boats. It was still active in watercraft to about 1979.
Two other photos of the same aircraft:
