Vintage Transports, photos by Friends & Guests (40)

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On a regular basis people sent me photos, to share their enthusiasm for vintage airliners or to illustrate a question. These photos have been lingering in a scrapbook or a discarded box somewhere and/or probably wouldn't find their way to Online-use or publication.
To prevent them from getting lost, with permission of the sender, I would like to share them on this page.
Photos already online (personal websites, airliners.net, jetphotos.net, etc) are not meant to be included here.

John Boyle sent me these images of B-23 N777LW (taken 2011) at Moses Lake, to show what I missed!
John wrote: "Here are the B-23 N777LW shots and a close-up up of the PBY. The owner was working on it that day.
Date: Oct.2011."
See www.warbirdregistry.org/b23registry/b23-390063.html

N777LW and PBY at Moses Lake


See here what I did not miss: Propliners in US Northwest 2014, part 1 (Washington State)

 

Roy Blewett sent me this photo in nov.2014, correcting me on my assumption the unmarked Beech 18 without wings I saw at Harvey Field,WA was N1827M. He included below image to show me the marked difference.
The Beech 18 I saw has as yet not been identified: USA Northwest 2014 HELP WELCOMED!!!
Beech 18 N1827M at Harvey Field

Information N1827M Beech D18S (c/n A-394, mfr 1947):
it had its certificate cancelled 05Jun2008, previously reg'd to Comanche Air Inc (of Winthrop,WA).
The cause of its deplorable state may lie in the incident suffered at Paine Field on 10Jan2000, while operating for Methow Aviation.
"The pilot stated that the airplane lifted off and attained an altitude of approximately five feet (!) when it began to bank and roll to the left. The pilot applied corrective action, however, the airplane would not respond.
The pilot elected to abort the take off and reduced engine power. The airplane touched down in the soft dirt/grass next to the runway. The main landing gear collapsed and the airplane slid to a stop.
The pilot reported that there was no indication of a mechanical failure or malfunction with the engines. An FAA inspector verified flight control continuity with no abnormalities noted."
NTSB accident number: SEA00LA036

Pity I missed this one at Harvey Field, I parked on the gravel parking but instead of going to the far end I walked between the two hangars onto the field.

Bob Parmerter sent me this postcard, of Beech 18 CF-WUH at Ignace; he helped with information on its history, see my 2007 report of Ignace,ONT.
CF-WUH at Ignace, Ontario

Dirk Septer spotted B-25D 'Grumpy' at Sealand Aviation (Campbell River, Vancouver Island) 26Oct14. This Mitchell WWII bomber 43-3318 (registered N88972) will get a new paintjob, as an anti-corrosion measure.

B-25 Grumpy at campbell River
More photos on my website by Dirk Septer HERE and HERE

This Mitchell B-25D 'Grumpy' is owned by John T. Sessions; see my Oct.2014 visit to his Historic Flight Foundation

October 2014 saw JoeJoe Prince at Fairbanks, at the Everts storage yard:
Everts C-46s storage Fairbanks
More of JoeJoe's plane pictures HERE..
See my 2012 report on an extensive visit to the propliners & skytrucks of Fairbanks

Brad Huculiak sent me these images in nov.2014; not often I see images from La Ronge, Saskatchewan and for its remoteness I hope to visit some day!
Brad works at Transwest Air, a commercial/charter airline in Saskatchewan, Canada.  It operates everything from the Cessna 185 to SAAB 340’s, but Brad, knowing my interest, shared some pictures of the fleet of DeHavilland aircraft, for which I am very grateful !

DHC-6 Twin Otter of Transwest Air
Brad added some fleet info:
deHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otters C-FPGE S/N 197 - C-FGLF  S/N 138 - C-FVOG   S/N 35 - C-FSCA S/N 17
(Exif data of the image showed photo taken 23Oct2014)

DHC-2 Transwest Air of La Ronge
DHC-2 C-FGHY of Transwest Air
deHavilland DHC-2 Beavers operated by Transwest Air : DHC-2 C-FIFJ (S/N 831) and C-FGHY (S/N 1344)
Photo contained exif data with date 21Oct2014.
History of 'GHY can be found on Neil Aird's wonderful DHC-2.com website.

DHC-3 C- of Transwest
Impressive: deHavilland DHC-3T 'Turbo Otter' C-FHPE (S/N 273). Exif data date: 30nov2013.

This is from the monograph written by Karl E. Hayes on the DHC-3 Otter, history on c/n 273:
"Otter 273 was delivered to the Union of Burma Air Force on 8th December 1958 with serial UB651. It was one of three Otters delivered that month (273, 274 and 277), all three being packed into crates and shipped to Burma where they were re-assembled and entered service.
A further six Otters were delivered to the Air Force in 1960/61. Burma was subsequently re-named Myanmar. Its Air Force aircraft were re-serialled, adopting Burmese numerals, equivalent of the old serial with a '4' prefix and deleting the UB. Thus, UB651 became 4651, depicted on the side of the aircraft in Burmese numerals.
In 1989 six of the Burmese Otters were purchased by Mr.Trevor Ross of Vancouver. Five were located at Mingaladon Air Base and one at Hmawbi Air Base. All six were shipped to Vancouver where they were stored in the Aeroflite Industries hangar at the International Airport, and offered for sale. They had arrived by December 1989.

Otter 273 was sold to Athabaska Airways Ltd of La Ronge, Saskatchewan to whom it was registered C-FHPE in May 1990 and converted to a Vazar turbine. The conversion was done by Aeroflite at Vancouver. It was noted there on 7th May 1990 after the conversion had been completed, about to be delivered. It had arrived at Prince Albert by 13th May to be painted.
The 'HPE' of the registration, according to the company's maintenance section, stands for 'High Priced Engine'!

The Otter entered service on general charter work based at La Ronge, and was subsequently joined by the company's second turbine Otter C-FSGD (316).
When Athabaska Airways merged with La Ronge Aviation Services to form Transwest Air, with effect from 1st September 2000, both Otters became part of the Transwest fleet. C-FHPE was registered to Transwest Air Limited Partnership, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in November 2001, although remained based at La Ronge."

History of Transwest Air

Gerben Groothuis did me the pleasure of sending a compilation of various propliners for my website in Sep.2014; several need help for further identification. EMAIL (mention url, please)

Dassault Flamat 315, no.113
Dassault Flamant MD.315R - 113/(30-QN) SLVSV30. Preserved at Freju, date photo: 30JUL14.
The Dassault MD 315 Flamant is a French light twin-engined transport airplane built shortly after WWII by Dassault Aviation for the French Air Force. Wikipedia

Beech Be18 F-BCCI at Cannes
Beech E18S (F-BCCI) at Cannes-Mandelieu (30JUL14)
More information on this airframe on my Off-Airport Europe page

Cockpit section
The remains of an unidentified Grumman C-1A Trader at Quonsett Point,RI (31MAY07)

Grumman S-2 Tracker at Polk City,FL
Grumman S-2 Tracker '6' at Polk City,FL (03NOV11).
Need more details on its identity!

Unmarked C-123 at AMARC
An unmarked Fairchild C-123 Provider at Tucson's AMARC scrapyards in Arizona (18DEC10).
This is likely to be C-123T 56-4357 (N6828, c/n 20241), an uncompleted turbine conversion project.
www.oldwings.nl by Aad van der Voet, and abpic.co.uk

From Joe Baugher's website:
Fairchild C-123B-17-FA Provider
56-4357 (msn 20241) to Coast Guard as HC-123B 4357 10/29/1958.
To MASDC Jun 12, 1972, but returned to USAF 5/22/1972. Back to MASDC as CP036 6/20/1975.
Sold to Mancro and left MASDC Jun 1, 1979. Fitted with Allison T56-A-7 turbines and designated C-123T.
Flew Oct 24, 1980. with Royal Thai AF markings.
Put back in storage at MASDC and the new engines were removed.
To commercial registry as N6828 Dec 17, 1998, but still remained in storage.
Provider Aviation Services wanted to restart the C-123T project, but this project was later abandoned.
Sat around in Hamilton's yard at Tucson airport since 1987.
joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1956

C-117 102 at AMARC
Douglas C-117 102 USMC at AMARC scrapyards,AZ (18DEC10).
Gerben found the identity of this one: C-117D 17102. This was confirmed by Aad van der Voet:
"The many photos of all AMARC C-117s I collected when I was researching the Pima Museum Boneyard Project- exhibition again proved very useful, and so I can confirm C-117D '102' is Bu 17102, c/n 43330."

C-117 unidentified at AMARC 2010
Douglas C-117 at Tucson's AMARC scrapyards,AZ (18DEC10)
The lettering on the tail ends with a 'T'.
Gerben found this one to be C-117D 50784. Aad van der Voet wrote: "The C-117D Bu 50784', c/n 43380.
The writing on the fin is in fact 'SET', the last 3 letters of 'Quonset', referring to NAS Quonset Point

C-47 at Tamiami 2003 requires identification
Douglas C-47 at Kendall-Tamiami,FL (23OCT03). Its identity?

Nicolai Musante emailed me the answer in Jan.2017:

"This is most certainly C-117D N9663N" See:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Douglas_C-117D_Super_Dakota_Air_500_N9663N,_FLL_Fort_Lauderdale,_FL_(Fort_Lauderdale-Hollywood_International_Airport),_USA_PP1260566161.jpg

And now I would like to know what happened to this nose section..? Surely it wasn't scrapped!!! EMAIL

More on this C-117D c/n 43385 on Photos by Friends & Guests (42) and Questions & Answers, look for 'Gary Larkins'...

C-47 / Opa Locka,FL 30DEC97
An unmarked C-47 at Opa Locka,FL on 30DEC97
Gerben thinks this one could be N123D, a C-47A which started its career as 43-15304.

C-47 / Opa Locka,FL 30DEC97
And another unidentified C-47 at Opa Locka,FL on 30DEC97
Gerben noticed that the colourscheme seems similar to the DC-6 5Y-BMM, which was parked at
Opa Locka for a long time with 'Sincereways'-titles.

Jim Tomlinson wrote me in Oct.2014: I visited Opa Locka on 06Feb98, a few days after the airfield was struck
by a tornado which caused extensive damage. There was a wrecked DC-3 upside down, all white with red and green cheatlines. I presume this is the one in Gerben's photo. I have never managed to tracked down this DC-3.
For completeness and perhaps elimination, I also logged this day the following (besides Gerben's unmarked
primer DC-3): N81B N783T N8099 N688EA N15MA N123DZ N212DD N505C (the latter wrecked)

C-47 / Montego Bay,JAM 14MAY98
Hiding in the weeds: a C-47 at Montego Bay, Jamaica (14MAY98).
After a painstaking seach Gerben found its identity: This DC-3, disgarded on the dump of Sangster IAP, appears
to be N717A! This would be c/n 4498 and was built and delivered as C-47A 41-18436, after which it was
reg'd as NC75411 and, temporarily, as HI-252. In may 1980 it was intercept during illegal drugs running
and was impounded at Montego Bay. This is as far as it got.

C-47 SNAFU at Merville
Douglas C-47 43-15073/9X-D (95TCS,440TCG) at Merville (18JUL13)
See also my 2013 visit to Merville

(N4332E/44-76229)/("43-15510")/W7 C-47B 37TCS,316TCG / Ste-Mere-l’Eglise 20JUL13
Douglas C-47B (N4332E/44-76229)/('43-15510')/W7 at Ste-Mere-l’Eglise (20JUL13)
And here it is from the other side:
(N4332E/44-76229)/("43-15510")/W7 C-47B 37TCS,316TCG / Ste-Mere-l’Eglise 20JUL13
This airframe was used here at Sainte-Mère-Église for a display at the the Airborne Museum.
See my 2014 visit.

F-BGNJ L.1049G / Nantes 28JUL13
Lockheed L-1049G Constellation F-BGNJ preserved at Nantes (28JUL13)
An excellent account of the history of this F-BGNJ (F-BRAD, c/n 4519) can be found at Ralph Pettersen's immaculate website www.conniesurvivors.com

Beech C-45, in parts
Beech C-45H N8283H? At Detroit-Willow Run,MI on 24JUL11

(N79MB/(42-2509)? AT-7 or AT-11 / Chino,CA 14MAY95Beech AT-7 or AT-11, possibly N79MB (ex/42-2509) ??? At Chino,CA on 14MAY95 - See update below!

Bob Parmerter wrote me: "That bare metal AT-11, with the red cowls at Chino 14May95, exactly matches a color photo I have from Chino in Oct93 of N6668C, c/n 1214!
Its history:
c/n 1214 AT-11 41-27369 USAAF delivered 12Apr42, Midland Bomb Training School.
Redesignated T-11 in June 1948. Griffiss AFB Jun49. Reclamation approved at Hill AFB Oct54 thru Dec56. Reg’d N6668C 05Feb57.
Exported to Mexico in ’58. Aerolineas Fierro, Tepic, Mexico 1971-77 as XA-MOL.
Castle Air Museum, CA 41-27369 ‘81-’90.
Aero Traders/Carl Scholl, Chino, CA for restoration ’92.
Photographed there in Oct.'93: no vertical tails, outer wings & engines. Red Cowls & bare metal overall. AT-11 nose & portholes windows."

 

Beech JRB-6 N197L
Beech JRB-6 N197L/KR-411 at Fort Worth-Meacham,TX (13NOV99)

C-45 GE319 / Cambrai 12JUN83
The cockpit remains of Beech C-45 of the GE319 at Cambrai (12JUN83)

Again a contribution by Bob Parmerter (author of the authoritive publication 'Beech 18: A Civil & Military History'):
"I can’t ID the Jun83 French Air Force C-45 with certainty.
The only French AF number link to that would be C-45F '319' (44-47319 Beech c/n 7699), which operated late 1944 to 20Dec66, when writte off in an accident."

Then 'eLaReF' explained on the Beech Yahoo forum:
"GE319 is a French training unit, '319 Groupement Ecole-CEAA'. It specialised in twin-engine conversion.
However... a minor complication is the unit (?) badge which isn't the one that I think of as being GE319's !!!"

And Steve Miller contributed:"GE 319 is the French unit designator for Group School 319 at Avord."

"41-27391" AT-11 / Robins,GA 26JUL10
Beech AT-11 '41-27391' at Robins, GA on 26JUL10

Bob Parmerter: "Well, I can say this is definitely NOT the actual USAAF AT-11 41-27391 c/n 1236 which was undergoing restoration at Taigh Ramey facility in 2012!
The Dobbins AFB display AT-11 with bogus serial '41-27391' is most likely an AT-11 XA-SED (no c/n or former US ID known) that was photographed at William A. Dempsay/ D & D Aero Inc, Rantoul KS in the mid-1980s, parked next to the real AT-11 41-27391."

 

If you can provide confirmation or information of their identities, please help ! EMAIL

Perhaps less of a 'shared by friends'-image rather than a 'news'-image, but I share it all the same. The QANTAS Museum has acquired this Lockheed Constellation, which was, after 24-odd years (sources vary, 1988 or 1990) of storage at Manilla, under serious threat to be removed (scrapped!) in the most recent clean up initiative.
This is a former US Navy C-121J (c/n 4144), most recent registration N4247K and the titles 'Winky's Fish' are still discernable below the cockpit.
The QANTAS Museum is raising funds to bring this Constellation to Australia by surface transport.
Source: www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-19/lockheed-super-constellation-september-19-2014jpg/5755466
Its history can be found at Ralph Pettersen's website: www.conniesurvivors.com/N4247K.htm

In November 2011 it was under notice to be removed or scrapped. Fortunately the QANTAS Museum stepped in and work began under way to prepare it for transport to Australia. On 19Aug2015 it was seen being partly disassembled.
In the march 2017 issue of Scramble magazine I read it had been reported in Manilla's seaport, ready for transport and indeed N4247K arrived at the QANTAS' Founder's Museum (Longreach,QLD) and now awaits reassembly and restoration for display!

Constellation Winky's Fish stored Manilla

N4247K prepared for transport

This image by Richard Reynoso was shared on 'CL44 Association' Facebook page, with the following comments by Richard Vandervord:
"This is HC-AZH in Cuenca, the former RCAF 106932 and world's last surviving 'normal' CL-44. Unfortunately attempts by the Canadians to repatriate her for preservation didn't come to fruition but she hangs on in this rather mutilated state."
CL-44 HC-AZH

From my records: Ex/Andes Airlines, HC-AZH (c/n 13), stored since 1986 at Guayaquil. Reports of its storage continued over the years, sometimes it was moved around and at some point Canadians tried to purchase it as 'Canadian aviation heritage' - but they couldn't bridge (finance!) the gap between Ecuador and Canada.
A donation to the City of Guayaquil Aviation Museum was hopeful, but I could find no trace of such museum.
In april 2007 it was reported to be all white and its fate seemed decided on: to be scrapped.
In nov.2009 I received a report that it had been scrapped, but this was contradicted later: it had been moved to the May Day nightclub, Los Totems, Cuenca in Oct.2010.

Image on Flickr.com, whilst in 'ANDES' colours
Guayaqil discoteca Canadair plane
Discoteca May Day
From: http://www.explored.com.ec/noticias-ecuador/la-diversion-llega-a-cuenca-desde-el-cielo-439399.html
'Un hangar y el fuselaje de un avión forman parte de la estructura del nuevo centro de diversión en la avenida Remigio Crespo '.
Publicado el 01/Noviembre/2010.
This website seems to have been dedicated to the opening of this bar-discotheque, so the repainting was done between late 2010 and late 2014 at least.

YouTube DISCOTECA DEL AVION, (Spanish spoken, uploaded 20Jan2011)

See my 2017 report OFF-AIRPORT LATIN AMERICA and Ron Mak's gallery with a 1977 image!

Rich Hulina, of Bush Flying Captured, shared this image in august 2014 among his Facebook friends. Rich wrote: "Beautiful day in NW Ontario to check out some historical junk! Here are the remains of Canso C-GFFJ on Free Lake hanging with my Cessna 150."

PBY-5 Canso at Free Lake by Rich Hulina
N6456C was obtained by Flying Fireman Ltd of Sidney,BC in June 1980; registered as C-GFFJ and flown as tanker no.9. It crashed and was destroyed during water pick-up at Sioux Lookout, Ontario on 12Jul81.

See also my page ABANDONED PLANE WRECKS OF THE NORTH

Donna Clayson was fortunate to have a ride in this beautiful Beech D17S Staggerwing (15Jul2014); CF-BKQ (c/n 4849) is registered in Whitehorse,Yukon.
Beech 17 Staggerwing CF-BKQ
Donna wrote: "Our flight July 15 2014 in a 1943 Beech D17S Staggerwing from Whitehorse to Braeburn, YT. It was a glorious, sunny day, perfect for flying in this luxurious, beautiful aircraft. Windows roll down like in a vehicle, seats very comfortable, lots of interior room. Thanks to John Faulkner for a wonderful way to start the day."

Tom Singfield sent me this image for my Searching for Identities gallery.
Unidentified DC-3
Check the link for more details!

May 2014 saw Joe Joe Prince driving along Palmer and he noticed some airtanker reinforcements from Alberta;
he was able to record C-GFSK there.
.Canadair C-GFSK at Palmer, Alaska
Canadair CL-215 C-GFSK, Tanker 201 (c/n 1085), recently converted to turbine engines and dressed in a new coat of paint.

MORE IMAGES HERE..

Kenneth Swartz explained to me (Aug.2017): "All the Government of Saskatchewan CL-215s converted to CL-215T's were modified by Cascade Aerospace of Abbotsford, BC - which was originally established as a sister MRO company of Conair Aviation and later sold to IMP Group of Halifax.
Cascade also did the CL-215 conversions for the Government of Alberta.
Some of the CL-215T conversions for Spain were done in Toronto by de Havilland Canada (after its purchase by Bombardier in 1992) and others by contractors in Quebec and perhaps others.
Only later CL-215s, built after the mid-1980s, can be converted to CL-215T's.
There are about two dozen suitable aircraft, including the aircraft purchased by Viking Aircraft in the US and those recently retired by the Government of the Northwest Territories (and earlier by Manitoba and Newfoundland?)
Viking Aircraft now owns the Type Certificate for the CL-215, CL-215T and 415.
About 100 truckloads of CL215/415 parts and tooling were transferred from Montreal, Quebec and North Bay, Ontario to Calgary in the last year."

Bessel van der Hulst noticed this Vickers Viscount of Somali Airlines, many years ago.
Somali Airlines' Vickers Viscount

Somali Airlines existed from 1964 until 1991 and it was based at Mogadishu. During that time it flew a DC-3, two Fokker F.27 Friendships, five Vickers Viscounts, one Boeing 727, three Boeing 720s, six Boeing 707s in various versions and two Airbus A310s.

Mikey McBryan published this photo by Kevin Klingbeil on Mikey's facebook page. A very nice aerial of the Buffalo Airways Hq at Yellowknife,NWT. I have nice memories of my 2006 visit there. It has been too long..
Buffalo Airways at Yellowknife, seen from the air
May 2014.


Daks over Normandy 2014

See my report NORMANDY 2014 - 70TH ANNIVERSARY D-DAY

Everts Air dropped into Bethel, Alaska 14May2014 and Joe Joe Prince was there to record it!
C-46 N1822M Everts Air in Alaska
Curtiss C-46F Commando N1822M (c/n 22521) "Salmon Ella " of Everts Air Fuel.
More of Joe Joe's photos on my website here: PAGE ONE and PAGE TWO

Terry Fletcher did the pleasure of sending me this report; besides vacation travel he did not beglect aviation and spent 3 days at the 40th Anniversary Fly-in of the Australian Antique Aircraft Association held at Temora.
Bad weather around Brisbane (and further north on Day 1) meant a number of cancellations, but the Fly-In did attract over 90 aircraft, represented by an amazing 55 different aircraft types!

Temora 2014
Terry's comments: "One of the stars of the Fly-in was a DH89A Dragon Rapide  VH-UXZ(2) c/n 6801 ex RAF NR713 and G-AJSL. Which only made its first post restoration flight - less than 24 hours before the Fly-In!"

"Strange that I should fly half way around the world , and the star was an aircraft built for De Havilland by Brush  Coachwworks at Loughborough, which is about 30 miles from my home...
Also strange that I cannot find any record of the aircraft flying since a 1969 accident at East Midlands airport (20 miles from my home)."

Temora 2014
"This is a first of this particular aircraft type for me: a beautifully restored Let / Aero 145   VH-DUH -  1960 built, c/n 20-001."

Temora 2014
"VH-UTI was the oldest aircraft to attend, it is a 1934 built British Aircraft Eagle II,  c/n 109.

Temora 2014
"VH-HID is a 1937-manufactured Lockheed Lodestar C-40 / 12A (c/n 1262, ex 38-545)."

All the photos were taken between 29 and 31st March 2014 at Temora 2014
And other highlights:
the only 2 x Stinson Reliants in Australia
SIAI SM1019 in Italian markings
1937 built Avro Cadet
1937 built DH94 Moth Minor
2 x Harvards
1941 PT-17
3 x Cessna 190/5
plus Birddogs, Auster, Tiger Moths, etc.
Also the strange sight of ‘classic' aircraft on the Australian Recreational register !!!!! Ercoupe , Piper Cub , Porterfield and Luscombe - apparently , some ’dodge’ around registration requirements based on aircraft weight.

In May 2014 I received following contribution to the website from Marguerite Randall:
"For your use: the year was 1938 and the pilot was Ted Stull, my father.

Crash at Favourable Lake, Canada
More on this on my page ABANDONED PLANE WRECKS OF THE NORTH

 

Kevin Kearney, Vice President - Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation (BAHF), posted early May 2014 a few photos on the WIX forum of the BAHF C-54 getting a new coat of paint!

C-54 BAHF new coat of paint C-54/R5D 'Spirit of Freedom' BuNo 90414.

See my 15Oct2009 report on my visit to Floyd Bennet Field, for the BAHF and HARP

Rich Hulina shared this photo on his Facebook page (27Apr14), Bush Flying Captured, and wrote: Hard to believe airplanes are still operating off the ice in NW Ontario! "
Bush Flying Captured by Rich Hulina
Otter on ice. The scene at Slate Falls Airways, NW Ontario

Felix Stadler wrote me in april 2014: "I have visited a few of those wrecks shown on your webpage 'Abandoned Wrecks' in the past, with the help of your page, and plan to visit more of them in the future.
There is a RCAF C-47A wreck near Port Hardy, Vancouver Island that I did not see mentioned anywhere on your page.
I visited it in March 2009 and took some pictures.

C-47 wreck near Port Hardy
In April 1944, the Dakota III FZ576 of 32 OTU crashed near Port Hardy, British Columbia.

FOR MORE PHOTOS AND INFORMATION ON THE CORRECT DATE OF THE CRASH, GO TO
ABANDONED PLANE WRECKS OF THE NORTH

Percival P48 Merganser G-AHMH
The Percival Merganser was a light, civil transport of the late 1940s.
Although the Merganser never entered production, further development, based on the data gathered from its test programme, would lead to the larger Prince, President and Pembroke series.
More on this and other vintage images of Bill Hill's collection see HERE..


 

Al Nelson (presently, in 2014, the Director of Restoration at the Western Canada Aviation Museum) sent me these images from his collection.

Al Nelson's bushplanes
This Waco, CF-BDU, I am sure is the same one in the picture in your recent story, owned by Milt Ashton and Roy Brown (see background info on Wings Limited, Photos by F&G-39).
In this picture the Waco and the Bellanca were part of Central Northern Airways fleet.

Al Nelson's bushplanes
Bellanca CF-BTW and Waco on the dock, with Central Northern Airways office in background.
The last flying Aircruiser, CF-BTW, a 1938 model, after serving in Manitoba, is now on display at the Tillamook Air Museum, in Tillamook, Oregon.

Manitoba's leading airline after WW2 was Transair. Its roots lay in the early 1930s when Milt Ashton and Roy Brown, two WW1 pilots, formed Wings Ltd. It disappeared in the 1941 CPA takeiver but on 08Apr1948 Ashton and Brown formed a new company to serve their old territory.
This was Central Northern Airlines, headed by Winnipeg grainand mining magnate George H. Sellers. Sellers had a military- and aviation background.

In 1951 CNA began its first airline sked with Lockheed 14 service between Winnipeg and Red Lake. In 1953 it won approval to operate aircraft in the DC-3 category and it grew steadily for 25 years. Types operated include: Avro Anson and York, Bellanca Airbus, C-46, C-47, Canso, Cessna 180, DHC-2, Lockheed 12 & L.14, Noorduyn Norseman (17!), Stinson and Waco.

-Above from Air Transport in Canada, Vol.1 by Larry Milberry.

 

Al Nelson's bushplanes
Al wrote: " I was with Central Northern, which became Transair in 1958, for many years."


DC-7 N284 T&G Alaska
"Here's an Alaska ramp shot at Homer of a C-119 (left, nose with 'Canada' just visible), DC-6, DC-3 and DC-7.
From 1983, I think."

More on Paul Weston's propliners on my website HERE..

Elvis Čanković sent me these images and the story behind this preservation project:
Douglas C-47B in Yugoslavia for preservation
C-47B 71203/312 at Zemunik AFB near Zadar, Croatia.

Douglas C-47B in Yugoslavia for preservation

Elvis Čanković wrote in march 2014:
"I am a Croatian soldier (airman) and in the barracks where I work we came up with the idea to rebuild, and set up as a museum display, an old DC-3.
The idea is to house a permanent exhibition of some sort, or even a military club.
This DC-3 (C-47B Yugoslav Air Force 71203 - 312, c/n 14651/26096 -Webmaster) is very old and in pretty bad shape, but we believe that with a little effort and with the help of civil aviation enthusiasts we can achieve our goal.
I wonder if you, or anyone, can help us in our endeavor in terms of helping us to find some old unusable parts for DC-3? We need these parts just to set up aircraft for display."

This is the location of this DC-3 / C-47:
https://maps.google.com/?ll=44.10021,15.346785&spn=0.001703,0.004061&t=h&z=18

and this is where we plan to display aircraft:
https://maps.google.com/?ll=44.098323,15.335648&spn=0.001703,0.004061&t=h&z=18
in the middle of the map. Trees are cut already."

 

Douglas C-47B in Yugoslavia for preservation
Marked by time, but a proud survivor!

Douglas C-47B in Yugoslavia for preservation

Douglas C-47B in Yugoslavia for preservation
The C-47 was parked for a long time among the weeds (see Airliners.net) and it is great the team got this far.

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Elvis sent an update 16Apr2014:
"The DC-3 is at its location and the wingshave been put back on, though here it is with its wings removed."

Fred Wallis returned from travelling and sent me this: "Some interesting photos that I took last week in Nome Alaska, hope they are of use to you."

Beech C-45 Expeditor N460K at Nome Alaska
Beech C-45H Expeditor N460K at Nome,AK
This website www.airport-data.com has its c/n as AF-753.

Beech C-45 Expeditor N460K at Nome Alaska

This information was found on Geoff Goodall's website :
C/n AF-753, designated C-45H
52-10823 USAF: remanufactured at Wichita by Beech from AT-7 42-56762 c/n 4381 -1954
N9407Z reg'd
N460K Dept. of Public Safety, Oklahoma City OK -1962/63
(operated by Oklahoma Highway Patrol as Governor's personal aircraft)
George C. Clayton, Fairbanks AK -1963/72

Pic in 'Beech 18' by Robert K. Parmeter (p.258) with caption: "George Clayton bought the Oklahoma governor's plane, C-45H N460K, and it was quite a deal. It is seen here a few years after Clayton sold it to Merric Inc. in Fairbanks,AK in 1972."

Merric Inc, Fairbanks AK -1972
Era Helicopters Inc, Anchorage AK -1977
Alaska Airmotive, Anchorage AK -1979
Foster Aviation, Nome AK -1980/81
James M. Johnson, Nome AK -Sep1981
Gussic Ventures Inc, Unalakleet AK -Oct1988/91
struck-off USCR -13Nov91
N460K noted Fairbanks AK -01Oct70
N460K photo Fairbanks ca.1974:
... all over metallic, good condition, tailwheel, 'Merric, Fairbanks Alaska'-emblem
N460K stripped fuselage hulk in quarry near Nome -2008 ("Merric Fairbanks Alaska" emblem)

./end quote

 

Wreck at Nome, Alaska
Unidentified wreck; details welcomed (email, state url it refers to)
Taigh Ramey (of Vintage Aircraft Inc, in Stockton,CA) wrote: "It’s a B-25J or H center section. Cool!"


Wreck at Nome, Alaska
Fred added later: "It was out on the Tundra for years and they recently hauled it into a museum area."

Coert Munk drew my attention to an update (june 2014) on the B-25 website www.aerovintage.com:
QUOTE: "From 'B-25 Mitchell in Civil Service' history on this airplane, it is noted as:
Built as B-25H-1-NA and delivered on Oct. 29, 1943. Assigned in Nov. 1943 to Ladd Field (Fairbanks), AK for, probably, a winter test series at the Cold Weather Experimentation Center.
No further military record noted.
Reports that this airframe is an Alaskan wreck and therefore claimed by the U.S. Historical Preservation Museum, Anchorage, AK.
Registration assigned in 1985 as N58HA but further information not available." UNQUOTE

Updates appreciated! EMAIL


 

 

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Created: 14-Apr-2014