Gary published this photo, and some others, of DC-3 'Tooie' in the WIX Forum Sep.2008.
He wrote: "Thought I’d share some photos of a DC-3 that has been recovered from Tennessee.
She is N2312G and according to the FAA, the serial is 33216. This DC–3 came from one of Dave Tallichet’s Specialty Restaurants in Tennessee. She is now located in Thomaston, Georgia where she will be made airworthy and flown to the new owner in the Mid-West."
An article from the local newspaper (The Tennessean) when it left KBNA:

"WWII plane embarks on new mission Former restaurant attraction will fly rescue operations"

By NATALIA MIELCZAREK . Staff Writer . July 13, 2008

When Charlie Walker looks at Tooie, a 1945 C-47 World War II plane with chipped paint, broken windows and loose wires dangling everywhere, he sees beauty. He calls it a "she" and admires "her" nose and 65-foot body as if Tooie were a person.
Walker, an Indianapolis jeweler, spent Saturday with a handful of men taking the plane apart next door to Nashville International Airport and loading it onto a 16-wheel trailer. After it's restored and meets FAA requirements, Walker will use it on rescue missions for his nonprofit Indiana Air Search and Rescue.
"She's a diamond in the rough, ready to be polished," he said. "This is history of America right here and deserves to be taken care of. We're a group of people that care about the history of our country and we also want to help others."
Tooie, which weighs about 18,000 pounds, may look familiar to some. The plane served as an attraction at Nashville's 101st Airborne Restaurant for years until it closed a couple of years ago. Walker said the local airport authority donated Tooie to him. It will 'help save lives'
From making phone calls to assembling the volunteers who donated their time and equipment, it has taken Walker five months to make Saturday happen. The plane will be transported to Thomaston, Ga., to Mark McSwiggan's shop, a homecoming of sorts.
McSwiggan's family used to run a freight plane charter business. They bought Tooie 30 years ago from the FAA when the model was phased out, he said. McSwiggan's father then sold it to the Nashville restaurant for display.
Now, the plane will return to the family for at least a two-year makeover job.
"I'm tickled to do it again, it's kind of a cycle," said McSwiggan, who was in charge of the Saturday project.
"Structure-wise, it's great. I found just a few areas of corrosion. This project will take a lot of money and patience. There's nothing hard about it, just working with big things."
The plane's engines will be replaced, as will the wiring and other equipment. When Tooie is fixed, it may be worth some $200,000, he said.
"But it's not about the money for us," Walker said. "It will fly like a new plane and will actually help save lives again."

I came across 'Tooie' myself, at that restaurant, in 2001: My Visit to the Deep South 2001

Jürgen Scherbarth sent me an update on "Tooie" in march 2009:
This former Nashville C-47 N2312G "Tooie" still lies untouched in the grass. Plans are to rebuild one 'new' airframe from N2312G and the former Cleveland-Lakefront resident N236GB, which was recently acquired by the Indiana Air Search & Rescue Inc."

Phil Brooks wrote me in May 2013: "DC-3 'Tooie' seen on a trailer at Franklin Flying Field, Indiana (3FK) on Saturday May 25th; what's the plan?" See for photo my page Photos by Others, Page 37.

Gordon Reid sent me this photo in Sep.2008; Gordon is a faithful contributor to Propliner magazine for many, may years.

N156JR c/n 200 at Alice,TX

Gordon seems to travel always on 'warp-speed'.. He wrote: "I was in the US from July 17 until August 13 2008, mainly to spend time at Oshkosh. However, I also did some touring, looking for Propliners.. So I thought you might be interested in a listing of airfields I visited where I noted a Propliner!
LAX DC-3 x 2 : Chino Convair x 2, DC-3 x 3, C-46 x 2 : Goodyear/AZ DC-7C : Glendale DC-3, Mesa DC-3 x 3, DC-4 x 5 : Roswell/NM Convair x 6 : Midland/TX C-46 Fort Worth/Meacham Convair x 2 : Denton S/DC-3 : Gainesville DC-3 x 4, Convair x 3, Carvair : Paris Martin 404 : Mena/AR : DC-3TP x 5 : Rantoul/KS DC-3, DC-4 x 3, Convair : Rockford/IL DC-3 x 2 : Oshkosh/WI DC-3 x 11, DC-3TP : Oshkosh/Basler DC-3 x 17, S/DC-3, BT-67 x 4, Convair : Bloomington/IL DC-3 : St Louis Parks DC-3, Convair x 2 : Jackson/MS DC-3 x 3 : Houston/Hobby DC-3 : Victoria/TX DC-6, Martin 404 : Alice/TX Convair : Brownsville Viscount : Laredo DC-3, Convair x 2, YS-11 x 4 : Hondo/TX DC-3 : Fredricksburg DC-3 : El Paso Convair x 7 : Santa Teresa/NM DC-3, S/DC-3, DC-6B : Pima/Davis Monthan Convair x 17 S/DC-3, DC-3 x 2, DC-7B : Marana Regional DC-4 x 4, C-121 x 2 : Eloy DC-3 : Casa Grande DC-3 : March AFB : DC-3, Convair, DC-4 : Chino DC-3 : Orange County DC-3 : Long Beach DC-3 : Santa Monica DC-3 : Van Nuys DC-3."
Good to see so many still survive!!

Gordon also wrote:
"It is a long way to drive from Los Angeles to Oshkosh for an airshow, however there were a lot of great 'supporting acts' along the way and I never felt at anytime that I was pushing it.
Best seat in the house was a shot I took in the Collings Foundation B-17G N93012 as we cruised at 1,000 feet over southern Wisconsin!"

I have never been to the famous Reno National Championship Air Races myself, hope to go there one day, meanwhile I have to do with this Tigercat shot (Sep.2008) sent to me by Jim Babcock:

Named "Big Bossman" Mike Brown's F7F-3P (Bu No. 80503) is the photo-recon version of the aircraft. Obtained from the Lonestar Flight Museum in 2002, the fighter's military history included stints at MCAS Cherry Point, Miramar, and El Toro with VMD-954. Sold surplus, the Tigercat's history is picked up in 1989, where R. Waltrip registered her as N800RW after a ground-up restoration.
When Mike Brown bought the plane, it was flown to his Ione, California hangar where it is still based. "Big Bossman" is now one of five flyable Tigercats in the world, and the first to ever race at the National Championship Air Races, "the world's fastest motor sport", held every September in Reno, Nevada, as race number 1. [www.sandersaircraft.com] The Grumman F7F Tigercat was the first twin-engined fighter aircraft design to enter service with the United States Navy. Designed for the new Midway-class aircraft carriers, the aircraft were too large to operate from earlier decks. Although delivered to United States Marine Corps (USMC) combat units before the end of World War II, the Tigercat did not see combat service in that war. Most F7Fs ended up in land-based service, as attack aircraft or night fighters; only the later F7F-4N was certified for carrier service. They saw service in the Korean War and were withdrawn from service in 1954. [Wikipedia...]

The Reno Air Races take place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada, USA. Air racing is billed as 'the world's fastest motor sport' and Reno is one of the few remaining venues. Begun in 1964, the Reno Air Races feature multi-lap, multi-aircraft races between extremely high performance aircraft on closed ovoid courses which range between about 3 miles (Biplanes and Formula One) and about 8 miles (Jet, Unlimited) in length per lap. [Wikipedia...]

Nigel Aylmer sent me these images and I have added his comments:
"Last Friday (22Aug08) I drove up to Lawrenceville,GA and paid a visit to Gwinnett County Airport (KLZU).
This was to take a trip on the EAA's Ford Tri-Motor. Even though the weather was far from its best, we still got to fly in the Tri-Motor much to my surprise and delight!
Parked on the apron was N4770, Handley Page HP137 Jetstream Mk.1 (msn240). It had been towed out of a training school hanger that was being used by the EAA for the Rides etc.
N4770 is registered to Technical Education Services Inc of Virginia Beach; other airframes of theirs are in use here too."

I found on Joe Baugher's website a reference to a US military past... Three Jetstreams had been purchased by US Army: 85-24687 (c/n 224), 85-24688 (c/n 218) and 85-24689 (c/n 240).
85-24689 had originally been registered G-AXRH and after service was registered N4770; at some point it has been registered as N12224 & N11218.

Further googling brought me to www.logbookmag.com, which offered following information:
"Msn 240, HP.137 Mk 1, Line Number 40, First Flight 16 January 1970, Notes: Initially transferred to the International Jetstream Corporation on 6 February 1970, as G-AXRH, before being delivered to the Airspur Corporation on 24 February 1970, and re-registered as N4770. After a period of storage at Edmonton, Canada, it was purchased by the Century Aircraft Corporation on 27 June 1975. The airframe was converted to Century III specifications during January 1979, and then leased the following month to Air Illinois. It was purchased on 4 May 1980, by Dorado Wings. The airframe was repossessed by the Federal Aviation Administration on 15 March 1980, withdrawn from use and placed in storage at Daytona Beach, Florida. It was then sold to the Hawkeye Institute of Technology in May 1987."

"On the way back (22Aug08) to Savannah, I decided to go the backway and call in at Covington,GA (K9A1).
I had seen pictures of a DC-3 here in 2006 on Airliners.net and Google Earth.
And indeed, luck was on my side: DC-3C N74589 msn9926 is still here!
But maybe not for long, because while talking with the FBO guy, I was informed that it had been abandoned and that the FBO as of 06AUG08 Dixie Jet Services Inc., had become the owner...
They are in the process of selling it to a Museum in Belgium, which maybe completed this week, so the FBO guy said. He also said they had just got the engines back and they were in their hanger.
So time will tell if this is true or not.
And another obvious question would be: which museum?"
Unfortunately, the deals seems to have fallen thru, as in August 2009 it hadn't been ferried out and looked a little worse for wear... Pity! Who's next?

More of Nigel's photos can be found on Vintage Jet Airliners, photos by Friends & Guests

In july 2010 it arrived at Oshkosh, possibly for turbo refurbishment; read a report by Timo de Vries on my Photos by Friends and Guests (27).

UPDATE: N74589 was restored and in full D-Day invasion colours participated in the 70th anniversary at Cherbourg, France in June 2014.
UPDATE: In June 2019 N74589 looked even better at D-Day 75th anni, Daks over Duxford!

Stephen Cos sent me this in Aug.2008, with the question:
"Here is a picture of a nose section sitting on a trailer in Cleveland,Ohio...
I was wondering if you have any knowledge of this nose? I do have a picture of the company where it was sitting but would need to find it (if it would help).
The facility was a transport company located very close to KCLE airport."
Steve Cos
Newmarket, Ontario

EMAIL

Antti Hyvärinen responded with the following:
"I remember seeing that DC-4 nose for sale on Ebay, maybe about 1-2 years ago. Attached are a couple of pics I saved. I seem to remember the tail was sold separately. It might have been somewhere in Arizona..."

Ralph Pettersen (of ConnieSurvivors.com) reacted promptly with 2 photos and comment;
"I believe I photographed this same aircraft at the small general aviation airport in Los Banos, CA in September 1990..". See my age dedicated to this mystery..

See also other Propliner Mysteries..

Cut off at the hinges:
Pekka intends to restore it as a flight simulator in Finland and anyone who has a lead to a DC-6 door is welcomed to email me so I can forward it...

In May 2008 I was myself at Chandler Gila River Memorial Airport, to see a remnant of stored propliners, see here MY REPORT.

A photo of the cockpit arriving in Finland can be seen on my PAGE 17

Kristof Vandermoere sent me these photos, taken on Iceland at the rather remote 'Egill Olafsson Folk museum' in Hnjotur.
One of the 3 aircraft here on display, the DC-6 is rather a mystery; could it be TF-OAA? Read on...

Douglas R4D-5 17191 (c/n 12980); ex USAAF 42-93105.
To storage May 1946. Converted to R4D-8 (C-117D) with new c/n 43379, returned to USN from Douglas December 1952. Retired from service 1973; in 1987 was on display at NAF Keflavik, Iceland. Moved Sept 2002 to Egils Olafssonair Minja-Og Fugminjasafn at Bjargtangar, Iceland. [Source: Joe Baugher]

Photos also at flickr.com/photos/sigurtor and www.flickr.com/photos/7772786@N03/854931107/in/set-72157600911489623/

I contacted Tómas Dagur Helgason, who in turn contacted Pétur P. Johnson and he provided the required information:
"The cockpit is from former Iscargo Douglas DC-6B TF-OAA c/n 45060.
This aircraft was bought from Japan Air Lines by Fragflug hf. in 1969 for use on Biafra relief operations, from Dahomey, for the International Red Cross.
It was the last DC-6B, and last propellor aircraft, in service with Japan Air Lines!
It was originally registered in Iceland as TF-FRA, but this was later changed to TF-OAA after the Biafra conflict to facilitate movements for various relief organisations in Western Africa, including Nigeria.
In 1973 Fragtflug was split into two separate companies, Fragtflug and Iscargo, with TF-OAA going to the latter. TF-OAA was withdrawn from use at Reykjavík after being damaged in a fire.
The aircraft was broken up at Reykjavík in 1983 together with DC-6A TF-IUB."
THANKS GUYS!!

John Hume visited the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum at Hamilton,ONT and scored this image of Beech D18S C-GZCE (c/n A-156) parked outside.
I have fond memories of this museum having been here twice, the last time in 2006, see PHOTOS.

The website OldProps has an extensive Census of the Beech18.

The best book on the Beech 18 has been written by Robert K. Parmerter (sold through the Beechcraft Heritage Museum) and here are some titbits on the production of this little skytruck...
During its 33-year production run, the Beechcraft 18 was produced in the following differerent basic airframe models: 18, A18, B18, C18, D18, E18, G18 and H18. Beech did not place a hyphen between the airframe letter and the number 18.
Found with these different airframe models were a variety of engines, each of which had its own suffix letter:

Willem Overtoom included this shot in his newsletter, which was quoted to me, while travelling in Cambodia in July 2008.

He wrote (my translation): "I arrived at Sihanoukville, which I had visited 5 years ago too. It still isn't a city but rather a collection guesthouses, small hotels and a beach. There is no evidence of city planning, but there is a harbor, a cluster of streets, buildings.. And a few kilometers from there again some buidings, streets, small business and some governmental buildings. East of there more of the same... There is no city centre... A lot of walking if you don't have a motorcycle at your disposal!
A few years ago the beach of Victory Hill underwent a sizeable reconstruction and resorts and hotels, even casino's have been built here. Next to the pier a hangar has been built; it isn't large enough for the Antonov 24 it accommodates... It will serve at its last resting place as a decoration for a restaurant / nightclub here..."

I have a seperate section of aircraft located Off-Airport...

Ron Mak returned from the Philippines (July 2008) and wrote me: "I noticed this AN-26 at DMIA-Clark with RP-C2639 registration and 'Batam Logistics' -titles; the next day another name was painted on, 'Interisland'.
RP-C2639 is c/n c/n 77305509.
They operate also 2 Yak-40s. One is at Caticlan-Boracay with some damage after an incident during landing (ran off the runway and the nosegear collapsed).

I think this An-26 will take over the routing to this beautiful island.

Ron Mak has a dedicated webpage with more of his photos.

John Olafson wrote me on 08Aug08: "I went to Kelowna today, to visit STOLairus and see the two Otters they recently acquired. I got to photograph them in their crowded ramp area.
N103SY (c/n 296) looks like a well used Otter and will soon be re-registered on the Canadian registry."

Martin Prince Jr sent me images of N103SY at Bethel,AK last year.

I browsed to 1979 - 1983 (Vol. 1-18) of Propliner magazine, but found no images of this N801W.
There is no reference of N801W (afaik) in Alwyn T.Lloyd's book about the C-82 packet & C-119 Flying Boxcar; but then the amount of info on the civilian careers of these aircraft is limited.

Bob Reid offered the following theory:
"I am wondering if the date on the photo may be incorrect? N801W has always been registered to a Beech 65!
The aircraft in the accident as shown below was a drug runner and I recall this accident well, as I was working for the State of Arizona as an investigator..
The C-119  exploded on impact, as it was filled with 55gal barrels full of avgas. There wasn't much left.
The  N number on the photo taken by Steve may have been fictitious?
NTSB Identification: LAX79FA059 - 14 CFR Part 91 General Aviation
Event occurred Sunday, July 08, 1979 in CASA GRANDE, AZ
Aircraft: FAIRCHILD C-119L, registration: N1040E
Departure point: Chandler,AZ.
Type of accident: no.1 engine failure during flight cruise, emergency landing, made an intentional wheels up landing off airport in open field, fire broke out after impact.
Note: no mention of the operator. See also ASN report.
Fact remains that the date is earlier than the alleged date of photography and quoted tailnumber is different than the N801W roughly painted on.
Images of N1040E to compare? N1040E was also a Lockheed Learstar, see 1970 photo.

Whilst on the subject of C-119's, I thought you might enjoy what Jay Carter wrote me:
"I flew mostly out of Anchorage from 1977 to 1984. In particular, the C-119 Boxcar N9027K was one of the airplanes that got my attention.
In the summer of 1982 I flew that one along with 5 others that belonged to Jack Gifford's Flying Service.
Late in the season, I was departing Dillingham at about 3 am for ANC. We used to carry up to 24,000 pounds of fish, but we only had about 18,000 this night. It was September, so it was dark at 3 am now. The 30 inch check on run-up came up just a wee bit short of the 2600 RPM that is supposed to show at 30 mg... But it was close.
So we let off the brakes and rolled for takeoff. Right about V1, FO Ken Johannssen, calls out that the number two is failing! It still showed positive BMEP, so there was really no choice but to rotate and go...
Number 2 indeed was working itself backward, so I called for "Throttle, mix, prop, feather, check for feather, check for fire". Checklist complete, started my turn back, and Ken says "yep, she's on fire"...
We had fire bottles on those. It's also incredibly loud at takeoff in a 119, even with one in feather. It climbed, but not much. Went downwind at about 300 ft. I knew the airport well enough to make a visual turn to a rounded base leg. Rolled onto a short final but couldn't see the runway. There is a river on short final so I knew right where I was but couldn't see the runway. Ken and I spotted it about the same time, and I was not lined up exactly right. Ken says better go around. No way! I skidded it over, called for gear down, was in the flare, nose gear still up, said don't worry about the nosegear Ken we are gonna live, and right as the mains hit, the nose wheel came down and locked!
Made the first turn off.
The Boss was there. He said nice job, but I have one question. I asked what?. He said how come you didn't use the Pilot controlled runway lights here at Dillingham that were installed last year? Dunno boss, I never flew here at night..
I had made the take off without runway lights before so I wasn't too worried about the TO. But it sure would have helped to land!!
True story.
But the best part of my Alaska experience was flying with Merrill Wien in 1977. I see that his son Kent sent some pictures that you used on your website. The Wien Family were the best and most influential Alaskan aviators that I ever had the pleasure of knowing.

See N9027K on my Anchorage 2006 report

Tom sent me an image of P2V-7 (SP-2H) Neptune N703AU, Aero Union's tanker 03. Its former US Navy serial was 147967 (c/n 726-7217). It was exported to Chile during 2000, photos can be viewed on my Airtanker Id page.

Tom also wrote:
"Have a look here hwww.scancal.org/airattack/tanker42/index.html The images on this site belong to Jake Hickok, like this photo of N703AU. He is a member of the Associated Airtanker Pilots Association, as I am, and we know each other from the message boards."

DC-3 N308SF for sale (but not sold) on eBay, July 2008
See 2017 update further below!

During Jul08 I found N308SF (c/n 18984) for sale on eBay, by C.J. Aviation Services LLC, asking price US $88,000.00 but highest bid was usd 50.100,- and thus remained unsold. Although it was reported to have flown during Jul08 (to Houston,TX?), perhaps a demo trip..?
The eBay page offered some interesting details:
"Vehicle Description: 1943 DC-3 that is current Part # 135! This bird is well maintained and ready to go. Lots of history with this girl. 1943-46 flew in the war. 1946-1952 flew for several small airlines. 1952 to 1963 flew for Piedmont Airlines as the Tidewater Pacemaker. 1964 to 1984 went to the French Navy. Back to the US in 1984 and has been a 135 freight bird since. This is not some derelict bird that has been sitting around she just flew this week 5/02 and runs great. This bird must go this is our 3RD price reducation down from $150K!!!
1943 DOUGLAS DC-3/C-47 N308SF
Airframe: 52,000+ TT
Engines: 850 & 1250 SMOH
Props: 670 SPOH (fresh tear-down inspection for AD)
(Avionics: King KMA-24H Audio panel, KX-155 Nav/Com w/glideslope, KX-155 Nav/Com w/glideslope, King KN-62A DME, King KR-87 ADF, King KT-76A Transponder w/encoder, Strike finder stormscope, 3-place intercom, NSD-360 HSI).
Features include: Current Part 135, Diamond plate floor, Gill cargo liner, Ramsey winch, Cargo (C-47) doors.
Exterior: Recent touch up on gray and landing gear wheel wells
Interior: Cargo
Ready to go to work."
C.J. Aviation Services LLC

N308SF on Airliners.net

N308SF was transported by road from Punta Gorda to Shell Creek, joining N133D; purpose is restoration to original C-47 52-100521 by Frank Moss & 2 sons Glenn + Charlie, 15Dec13.
Actual owner is Walker Logistics & N308SF is to return to Membury,UK and painting to original 42-100521 'Night Fright' of the USAAF 79th Troop Carrier Squadron (436th TCGp), is to be done in the UK by Tony Bianchi at Personal Plane Services.
In Scramble's #457 (June 2017) I read that the DC-3 was disassembled at Shell Creek by vintage aircraft specialist team 'Edwards Brothers Aviation', put on a lowloader and driven to Brunswick post on Georgia, shipped overseas where it arrived at Southampton docks and by lowloader transported by road, under supervision of the Edward Brothers team again, to Coventry (May 2017); the wings, centerpart and various other parts travelled seperately from the fuselage.
At Coventry it will be restored by another team to full airworthiness (hopefully).

More on C-47 night-fright.com:
"In 2016 Clive Edwards and Gordon Gray prepared the aircraft, still in an unfinished state, for containerisation and shipping to the UK, this was completed in March 2016 and 'Night Fright' is now back in England with the restoration team led by Ben Cox at Coventry to return the aircraft to the sky and to her WWII colours. Eventually part of the runway at Membury might be restored to allow her to operate from her original WWII airfield, the only C-47 in the World to do so." [added on 14Jul2018 from the website]
The focus is on 'Daks over Normandy 2019'...

For sale (July 2008): Douglas DC-3C N583V (c/n 12369).

Chris Austin of USA Aircraft Brokers Inc. wrote:
"I am trying to get the word out that I have recently listed a 1942 C-47/DC-3 for sale in Fort Worth, TX, USA.
Serial No. 12369/N583V has sat for many years at this location while undergoing work by a few different owners.
I am doing my best to keep this aircraft from going to the "parts bin." Your help in getting the word out is greatly appreciated!"

And indeed it was sold: Registered 31Jul12 to Airborne Imaging Inc. N583V attended "The Gathering of Warbirds & Legends" on 01Aug13 @Forbes Field in Kansas. At that time it had been overhauled but the specialized equipment had yet to be installed. N583V operates next to N92578/cn9028 and N737H/cn6062.

Incident seizing for marijuana smuggle 1981 is described on this link
http://federal-circuits.vlex.com/vid/niver-wayelon-penland-stanley-mccune-38394411

More on its move to Airborne Imaging:
"After 30+ years of sitting dormant at Sycamore Strip (9F9) airport in Fort Worth, Texas DC-3 N583V took to the air. It was a short ferry hop that occurred 25Sep2012, from Sycamore to Midway (JWY): a trip of about 25 miles."
http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=47775

Douglas C-47 43-15073 (c/n 19539) was abandoned at Rajlovac airfield (near Sarajevo) since 1994, since she was grounded by machine gun fire.
Members of the Merville Battery Association started in Nov07 on an adventure: to recover this C-47 Skytrain for preservation in Normandy,France: Google maps

By June 2008 they could report 'mission accomplished'!
Click on the image, or HERE, to learn more about this superb accomplishment!

See my photos taken 25Sep2013 at La Batterie de Merville.

Martin Prince Jr sent me some images of the Anchorage 2008 Air Trade Show. One was this fabulous Beech D17S Staggerwing N9885H .
Click on the image to see more of Martin's photos including the Air Trade Show.

Phil continued:
"The time has now come for the Staggerwing, and perhaps my Twin Beech, to return to Europe. At age 72 I am finally ready to part with these old friends.
The Staggerwing is now completely rebuilt. The rebuild is better than the original manufacture of the airplane which was done in a tent for lack of manufacturing space in 1942. We corrected many manufacturing errors caused by the high tempo of work in those days. Originally, my airplane was delivered to the United States Navy. Thanks to Heritage Aviation Ltd., which primarily does work for the Reynolds Museum in Alberta and other air museums in Canada, it is now one of the finest Staggerwings in the world.
The Twin Beech was not rebuilt 'ground up' but I have owned it for 13 years and must have replaced every moving part! It is also a beautiful specimen of its kind.
They are both classics in the real sense. I am sure there are very few of either type in Europe. Considering that they were both designed in 1932, they have a competitive history with European aviation development. (I also owned a ME 108 at one time....that was a direct competitor of the Staggerwing).
Considering the 'Euro' provides a huge discount on the dollar, I had just made up my mind to locate web sites in Europe and begin advertising both classics for sale.
There is a picture of my Staggerwing that appeared in the a commercial publication by Jet Aviation Companies of Zurich. It was sitting on their ramp in 1976. However, I suspect it is no longer a part of their advertising.
My website is www.livingstonalaska.com. It has 254 pictures of the Staggerwing during rebuild and a start on the picture file for the Twin Beech.
I would appreciate your help identifying European sites that would find my buyer."

UPDATE: N9885H was sold in 2013 and crated to Europe where it arrived at FAST Aero in Antwerp (Belgium), to undergo maintenance for a buyer in the Netherlands.
It arrived at Antwerp on 13Nov2013 and FAST carried out some improvements on the airframe. N9885H was orginally built as a US Navy GB-2 with BuNo 12334 (c/n 3991) but soon after WW2, in 1946, demilitarized and sold as N9885H.
At Antwerp it was rolled out on 03Apr2014 and is expected to make its way to its new base at Lelystad, Netherlands.

The 'Twin Beech' D18S/C-45H N9004Z (c/n AF-505) was bought by the Historical Flight Foundation Inc of South Miami,FL and registered as such on 05jan09.

When Henk Wadman read the above account he told me how he cycled over to Rotterdam Airport on 06Aug76 to take these photos of the visiting Beechcraft Staggerwing NC9885H...
It had come from London-Luton and it had an extra fueltank built in.
Note it has "Humming Bird" written on the cowling.

Phil wrote about this photo:

Most recently it was registered 22Nov04 to the bros. Powers.
Check out their website: Pa Pa Bear Adventures. They are based in Bethel (aprox. 400 miles west of Anchorage) and their website tells all about hunting- and fishing trips and all kind of other adventures they can help you with.

Martin has a growing set of images here AT THIS WEBSITE..

Photos © David B. Tanner

My Airtanker Page

Rolf Larsson wrote me in April 2008:
"In addition to the black & white IL-14 pictures I sent to you some time ago, I hereby send a few colour pictures...
Although in regular service in Europe the Malev aircraft are not so often illustrated, HA-MAD c/n 14803028 and HA-MAE c/n 14803029 were both East German built VEB-14P and both pictured at Stockholm-Bromma in the mid-1960s.
Both of them have been reported as flown to the Soviet Union in 1970 and most likely scrapped there. Or has anyone any info about the ultimate fate of these aircraft???
TZ-ABG c/n 146001050 of Air Mali was pictured by me at Monrovia Spriggs Payne airport in March 1967 and I believe the ultimate fate of this IL-14 is also unknown...."

The full Il-14 production list, as compiled by Soviet Transports team, can be downloaded from Aad van der Voet's website (free of charge!). Several other types there as well: www.oldwings.nl

Aad van der Voet wrote me in July 2008: "Today the Soviet Transports team learned the identity of Il-14 CCCP-61663, which is mentioned in the production list file, but without a c/n.
As it turns out, this aircraft is c/n 14803029, which makes it ex HA-MAE !
So the fate of HA-MAE is now known, and it still exists at Yakutsk today."
"HA-MAE became CCCP-61663 circa 1970 and was converted into an IL-14LR ice-reconnaissance aircraft. It ended up in storage at Nizhniye Kresty, where it was seen in 1992, and again in 2003 (now partly broken up). The fuselage was transported to Yakutsk in 2005, where it was mated with the wings of IL-14 CCCP-41863. It was then placed on display at Yakutsk, and noted in June 2008. So I'd say a happy end for this one." (Source: Soviet Transport team, who else...?)

More photos of Alaskan Martin Prince Jr HERE...

"I was pleased to see that they have acquired another L.188C which is now in the hangar and will be converted for air tanker use, so will likely be operational in that role next fire season.
This one is registered C-FLXT and is c/n 1130. Its last owner was the National Science Foundation where it was registered N308D.
I like the colors it is painted in and probably it will remain that way. As usual the hangar was full of other aircraft including helicopters."
I walked the ramps of Red Deer myself in 2007 and photographed C-FLXT outside the hangar, awaiting its turn. Click HERE for photos and the aircraft history (scroll to about mid page).

C-FLXT was made operational as an air tanker, but the tail swapped to another birdpermanently grouded). Check out photo of 06Jun16 @Red Deer, stored outside with most parts gone on this external link: elbows-aviation-shots.co.uk/RDR(16-14)C-FLXT.JPG
The tailswap is explained on my Visit to Air Spray at Red Deer 2006.