Bob Schultz came across my photos of DC-3 ZS-LVR on my South Africa (2004) pages and he noticed he had flown this DC-3 at the start of his career! He wrote me: "I flew this superb DC-3 as N950 for two years in 1959 and 1960 and have been looking for it for quite a while. I am happy to see that she is still in service and living well in South Africa." DC-3 N950 (msn 20475), later to become ZS-LVR which I came across in South Africa (2004). " As I remember, the airframe time then was on the order of 3.000 hrs. The long nose was an AirResearch modification that allowed a 30 inch /360 degrees rotating radar dish, which drove a Bendix RDR1C/D. The other equipment was the standard of the day and included a Sperry autopilot which was not common as most had no autopilots." "There were an additional pair of fuel tanks in the outer wing panels which held 200 Gal. US each giving a greatly increased endurance and range. As we operated the aircraft, on a Airline Training flight manual, the maximum gross weight was 26,900 pounds which only allowed 950 gallons of fuel with just a crew of two. If operated under a restricted certificate or military ops manual, I presume a higher maximum gross weight limit would allow the use of the fuel capacity. At that time, the engines were P&W 1830-94 with the two stage manually shifted blowers which we seldom used as they were only needed above an altitude of 10,000 feet." Bob is a retired corporate Gulfstream 4 pilot and lives in Phoenix,AZ and would appreciate any other info or up to date pictures anyone may have.

Bob writes: "It is fairly easy for me to remember things about N950 since it was my first corporate flying job and I was then 21 years old, the youngest DC-3 pilot on the airport by several years. The company was The Electric Autolite Co. of Toledo Ohio and they were the second largest spark plug manufacturer after Champion Spark Plug Co. The company also made a large variety of electrical components for both automotive and aviation use." "When I flew her, she had a Sperry A-12 autopilot which I see from the Nelair photos has been removed, and the radar was a Bendix RDR-1C C-band mounted on an arm attached to a short bulkhead that stowed behind the pilot's seat when not in use and swung up behind the throttle quadrant for use. The radar was truly a weather avoidance system as the nose leaked in heavy rain and shorted out the radar so it quit working, to say nothing of the fact that it also leaked all over my trousers and shoes."

"The Gulfstream G-III which I flew when based at Geneva-LSGG in the early 1980s and the G-IV that I was flying when I retired. Way back I also flew Fairchild F-27s for The Champion Spark Plug Co. (also in Toledo) before starting to fly only jets in 1969. I worked in Europe from 1979 through 1987, flying initially a LR-35A Learjet and later a gulfstream G-II and G-III before returning to Phoenix,AZ to finish out my career flying a G-IV. Although I truly loved flying the DC-3 and would like to have another chance to try it again, I think that I am too spoiled by the jets and turboprops flown since then."

The Cessna is Bob's present personal aircraft and it is a 1956 C-172 converted to conventional gear.

Bob with his Cessna; he is now retired and living in Phoenix, Arizona. (Mar.2006).

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