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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 probably wouldn't find their way to Online use or publication. To prevent them from getting lost, subject permission of the sender, I would like to publish them on this page. |
More on South Coast Aws can be read on: South Coast Airways Surrenders
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Hans Christian Bogstad sent me this photo in Oct.2006. He had taken it at Cancun (Mexico) in May this year.
This is a Grumman HU-16C Albatross, registered N43846 (c/n 381).
Ray Wolfe sent me the following data on this airframe-
Some general information on the Grumman Albatross: |
FAA's website featured "deregistered" data: Certificate Issue Date 19Jun1981 -Douglas TB-26B -Serial 29234 -Owner Rodney G Huskey of Grand Junction,CO -Cancelled 23May1997 Warbirds Directory (4th edition, by Geoff Goodall -2004) has: TJ wrote: "Rod Huskey also owns another A-26, N202R (Miss Murphy) if nothing has happened recently. That has been his flier and has lately spent some time in Mesa,AZ. |
Geoff Street sent me this update in Sep.2006: More on this plane on propliners around Johannesburg Another (2007) photo is on Page 20 of Photos by Friends & Guests
More on this plane on propliners around Johannesburg
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Chris Barnes wrote me in Sep.2006 and had these photos attached:
"Here is a very rare early TACV model DH Dove I found at Praia Airport in the Cape Verde Islands last year in June.All flight controls still worked! A tribute to Dehavilland! Registration is CR-CAR. In very sad shape but repairable. This year the old airport closed and this aircraft is now on common land so it must have been further vandalized, such a shame. I sent these photos on to the Dove/Heron restoration group whom were not able to rescue her. The restoration lads were much more interested in CR-CAB her sister ship that was the second-hand built prototype with different service bay and baggage departments. CR-CAB alas was donated to a downtown park in Praia as a play thing and unfortunately got hauled off to a local dump about 3 years ago after virtually being stripped... These desert islands preserve well excepting the tropical sun on the fabric." 
 
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| John P. Stewart wrote me in Sep.2006: "Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the Alaska photos. I am glad you got to Homer, it is one of my favorite spots and I have been to Beluga Lake several times. The last time we went down to Homer we went via Girdwood, Hope, Soldotna and Kenai; nothing to shoot at Girdwood or Soldotna, but I did get some bush stuff at Hope and the C-46’s at Kenai. Another airport worth a visit is at Big Lake (near Wasilla). There are several aircraft salvage companies there and one has a few Beech 18’s in the grass, see the photos attached, taken at Big Lake 12Sep04). |
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Aad van der Voet wrote: The registration N8062H was no longer valid on FAA's N-inquiry (issued to Robinson Helicopter) in Oct.2006. Terry Fletcher reported two Beech 18's still present at Big Lake on 26May08. In the follow up correspondence Bob Parmerter (author of : "Beech 18: A Civil & Military History") wrote on N8062H-- Both this Twin Beech as well as N888E below can still be found at Big Lake in 2012, see Lars Opland's photo on Guestphotos 34 and a 2017 update at Guestphotos 52. |
John Stewart replied: "the tan Beech is N888E. I also shot this one while in service in (I think) 1968." See Guestphotos page 21 Aad van der Voet: "This is Beech C-45G N888E c/n AF-255. N888E also had faded "Alaska Aeronautical Industries" titles when I visited Big Lake airport on June 7th, 2006 (they still looked much the same). FAA's website has its registration 'revoke' but lists owner as Jack Peck dba Alaska Aeronautical Industries. I also came across the name Jack Peck in my account on Cordova Airlines, and who he was can be read there in a contribution by his Grandson, Ward R.Smith. |
Bob came up with this very current update !!  "These are current shots as of 5:30 PM Alaska time, October 2nd, 2006. Both aircraft along with the S-2 Tracker are still there. Here is a pic of the first plane: This is N888E. She started out life in '51 as a C-45G Expeditor. Currently registered to a (DBA) Jack Peck of Anchorage, Alaska. She still has the "Alaska Aeronautical Industries" logo on the sides of the plane. The FAA website shows her current status as "revoked". Some research shows here original serial/AF number as 51-11698 and her construction number as AF-255. It was involved in an accident:NTSB website , accident investigation ANC66F0081. It was a non-fatal accident with major damage to the aircraft: a wheels-up landing.. What I saw was a decent fuselage and wings to just outboard of the nacelles and no tail. AAI went out of buisness about 15 or so years ago. I flew on one of their Twin Otters once. Their level of maintenance scared me; we used to have a saying in Soldotna "Fly and die with AAI"..." "Those were different days: we called South Central Air (SCA was thier logo) "SCAre air"  One of SCA's planes hit a moose on landing at Soldotna once... That was before all the commercial guys quit using Soldotna airport (SXQ) and started using the nicer airport at Kenai (ENA).
Photo can also be seen, in larger format, at - http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/3203/n888ecn1.jpg |
"The second Beech is N8062H. There was nobody at the airport when I was there who knew anything about its history.
"For more details see description above. The photo can also be seen, in larger format, on http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/4236/n8062htv7.jpg
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Details & identification welcomed. Larger format: |
More can be read on my Alaska 2003 page. And more of Martin's photos can be seen on Propliner photos by Martin Prince Jr Many thanks Martin! |
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N401LC is a Lockheed L.100-30 Hercules, c/n 4606 and has been registered to Lynden Air Cargo since 21Apr1997. More photos of N401LC on Airliners.net |
Craig C. Smith sent me these interesting photos of C-123 Provider.
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Craig also included these photos of Wendover AFB, where this C-123 moviestar is stored:   |
| Mike Barrett is an old hand at geophysical surveys; while he reacted on the subject of DC-3 C-FSAW, he also shared some general sentiments on this subject: "I was on the geophysical survey in Iran where C-FSAW crashed back in 1977. These were long flights, usually each over 10-11 hours each. For these flights, we always took full fuel and even had an additional 260 imperial gallon fuel tank inside the cabin. Along with all the survey gear which was a lot heavier back then, it was a really heavy bird!" |
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| "I am still involved in airborne geophysical survey and earlier this year we completed an oil-mag survey for Shell in Libya. I had heard of a WWII bomber that had become lost there perhaps in 1942, I think. I’d hoped that our survey area would take us near the crash site but this was far from where we working, out near the Egyptian border. The name of the aircraft was the “Lady be Good.” I think it was discovered by some Pommy seismic surveyors in the 60s sometime. Apparently, the crew had attempted to walk out but had never made it. But I have flown over another lost DC-3, this time up in Irian Jaya. It was also lost back in WWII while flying over the high mountain range that traverses New Guinea and Irian. There had been survivors including an Aussie nurse, but the wreckage (with occupants) was also only found in the 60s when the Freeport Mining geos were exploring up there. I have been in airborne surveying since 1974, and although I do little actual flying today, more design and testing of electromagnetic equipment, I still enjoy the travel aspect of the business. This industry has more than its fair share of stories and I think a very good book could be written on the subject. Airborne surveying began just after the war and used modified old sub-hunter magnetometers to look for minerals. A large variety of aircraft have been used for this purpose, beginning with the old war-birds of course. Personally, I must have flown in perhaps 30+ varieties of fixed and rotor-winged aircraft over the years. It also has a risk factor associated with it. We ourselves lost an aircraft in Namibia only last year. V5-AAG, a Cessna 210, and to this day we still do NOT know the reason why (the equipment now is much smaller and lighter and we can now do a better job using a Ce.210 than we ever could with an old DC-3!) With regard to the airborne risk factor angle, I can personally attest to a few of them… Getting lost (in pre-GPS days): Thanks Mike ! |
John Olafson sent me these excellent photos of Conair airtankers; he wrote:"Here are some shots taken at the Penticton Air Tanker Centre on Sept 10. The sky was filled with smoke from several huge forest fires burning south of the area...  The fires originated in Washington State, and a week ago advanced into British Columbia. Smoke was so intense around the fires that no firefighting action was taken due to absolutely no visibility at all ! Crews in the air and ground had to wait until winds changed direction.  The two Convair 580 Air Tankers and the Piper Aerostar Bird Dog consist of one group. That seems to be the standard arrangement in BC for tanker operations. Kelowna Flightcraft builds the aircraft into tanker configuration using tanks that are designed and built in the US.  Conair Aviation crew and fly them and they usually come back to Kelowna after fire season for servicing by Kelowna Flightcraft.
Shortly after taking these photos they went into action on the fires to the south.Their tank capacity is 7,950 litres." |
This is CV580 C-FKFB (c/n 57) which was built as CV340 for United Airlines (N73129) in 1953!Owners included Frontier Airlines, Gem State Airlines, Golden Gate Airlines and ERA Aviation. It was converted to CV580 in 1964 and Kelowna Flightcraft bought it in 2003, converting it to airtanker. It was registered C-FKFB for Conair on 17Dec03. I photographed it at Abbotsford on 26Sep19, see Canada 2019. |
C-FEKF started life as Convair CV340 (c/n 80) for Braniff Airways in 1953 (N3425). Owners included Frontier Airlines (N73301)
, Sierra Pacific Airlines, Mountainwest, American Eagle, Rocky Mountain Airlines and Resort Airlines. It was converted to CV580 in 1966. It was registered to Kelowna Flightcraft in 1999 as C-FEKF and converted to airtanker, registered to Conair 07Jan2000 (was first Tanker 445). See update below! |
UPDATE on C-FEKF: From Aviation-Safety Network (ASN): May 5th, 2016 C-FEKF of Conair Aviation at Manning Airport,ALB:
On the Yahoo Airtanker forum a message stated: |
Graeme Mills sent me this photo in Sep.2006, he wrote:"I have attached a photo of this DC-3 ZK-BBJ from 1985 when with Fieldair in my hometown of Gisborne, NZ. I had a few rides in her as well whilst I was working for Fieldair and have a DVD from the right-hand seat while topdressing in the hills!" More on ZK-BBJ can be found here. |
Bob Reid wrote in Sep.2006: "This C-118A (c/n 44633) is former USAF (53-3262) and was brought out of Davis Monthan AFB in 1972. Gene Packard licensed the aircraft at that time and it was sold to an air cargo company, and then on to another until it ended up as a drug airplane in Columbia.. The Mexican Air Force seized the aircraft from the Columbian smugglers and put it in the inventory of the Mexican Airforce, becoming ETP-10024; they sold it to a local (registering as XA-TDR) that used it for cargo operations in Mexico under a Mexican air carrier permit. I ended up with it along with another guy, as it was semi-abandoned on my parking ramp at Royal Aviation (Mesa-Falcon Field,AZ). It was then donated to the CAF at Falcon.. but they decided it was too much of a project and gave it back. Since then been it has been donated to the Pacific Air Museum in Hawaii and they are trying to find the funding to take it to the museum on Ford Island at Pearl Harbor. The actual N-number is N48AW; I took this photo about four years ago, just south of my old FBO, Royal Aviation. Note the famous blue water tower in the background.". See XA-TDR photos on Airliners.net A new future seemed to brighten the outlook for XA-TDR, when it was reregistered N48AW on 07Nov07 to Tatonduk Outfitters (a.k.a. Everts Air Cargo) in Alaska... But instead -THE END- loomed on the horizon! On 09Nov07 the scrapman started his work, reducing this Classic Propliner to parts: engines, landinggear, parts & 'rotables' to be used on Everts' DC6/C118 fleet, to support the active ones, keep them flying. Thanks to Bob Reid for the update. Bob also sent photos of the gruesome, scrapping event. |
| Dirk Septer made me aware I missed something upon my visit to Yellowknife last July and he sent me this in Sep.2006: "Next time you're going to Yellowknife, make sure you also walk in the opposite direction from the one you took. There's Diamond Aviation, the FBO, where a lot of interesting aircraft that are passing through usually end up. 
It's also the home base of Summit Air, which operates a fleet of Short Skyvans and Dornier 228s (they like square fuselages).
They are really nice people (I have written about three articles about them).Beaver C-FGYN is parked here for the summer; it usually goes up to Cambridge Bay, but needs at least 120 hours to even pay for the insurance etc., so they were not operating it this summer. I am sending you one of another Beaver (or the remains of it) that you have passed on your way there in Yellowknife...." But what is its identity, what is the story (a crash?) and who owns it??? Dirk Septer suggested it to be c/n 393 and owned by someone locally; more details welcomed! |
"It is too bad 279 met her end, along with several other Otters, in Cambodia. They were great airplanes. 279 belonged to the 2nd Military Intelligence (Aviation Support) at Sembach AFB W. Germany, when she went down in this field. |
| Nigel Aylmer sent me these 2 photos in Sep.2006. |
Convairliners, by JM Gradidge (Air-Britain, 1997) has the following: As Convair CV340-38 delivered 07Oct53 to Delta AL as N4815C ("315"), subsequently converted to CV440 ("415"). UPDATE: |
Some history on N8040L, as much as its known (from the 1984 Air-Britain DC-3 book): A selection of photos of N8040L can be found on Airliners.net |
Douglas C-47A c/n 19741 was delivered to the USAAF as 43-15275 in March 1944, but one draws a large blank for the history after that. The lifeline resumes when she was registered as N842M for the Lee County Health Unit at
Ft Myers, FL in 1967 (no doubt for the mosquita pest control). Next was the Collier Mosquito Control District of Naples,FL which had it registered on
15Nov77. A year later, in June 1978 the tailnumber was changed to N842MB (Source: Air-Britain DC-3, 1984). |
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The HU-16 was the result of the US Navy seeking a longer-range amphibian for utility transport and air-sea rescue. The smaller Grumman Goose served with the US Navy during WW2 in a transport role. Grumman won approval for design G-64 in 1944.
