Page 41 - Photos by Friends and Guests

Vintage Transports, photos by Friends & Guests (41)

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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.

Dirk Septer sent me this sunny shot in Oct.2013, of DHC-3 C-FQND

More details and other photos by Dirk Septer on my website HERE..

Latest addition to Paul Weston's propliner images

Paul Weston's 1980s propliners in Alaska

Mark Wilson sent me this image in Feb.2015, he wrote:
"I have read about your recent visit to Greybull in 2014, and in particular your theory about the Martin 4-0-4's from Sheridan.
I visited Greybull on 04Jul2011 and I attach a photo of mine of an unidentified fuselage on a trailer which could be your Martin 4-0-4, as it has the same paint on the fuselage!"

MY VISIT TO GREYBULL OCT.2014 | PAGE ONE | PAGE TWO |

Nick Taylor sent me this update from Wendover (Utah): the C-123 on Feb 9th and Tanker 65 N8502R, dated 08Feb2015.

C-123 at Wendover, Utah - by Nick Taylor
I had come across this C-123K Provider (c/n 20243) at Wendover in 2008. The history of this bird and on former Wendover AFB can be read there: USA 2008. This C-123 was used a non-flying prop in the film Conair.

C-123 at Wendover, Utah - by Nick Taylor
The C-123 is on display and one can walk inside the aircraft. No instrument panels or any controls
remain, except a steering wheel from a car (this was needed for use as a prop in the Conair film, starring
Nicolas Cage). The floor has been replaced with plywood.

C-123 at Wendover, Utah - by Nick Taylor

Douglas C-54 N8502R at Wendover
Former TBM's Tanker 65, N8502R (c/n 27367; ex/ USAF 44-9141).
Roger Brooks of Alaska's Brooks Fuel became owner but never got north to Alaska. Roger Brooks closed shop a few years ago and we hope a new owner may bring new life to Tanker 65..?

C-54 N8502R Tanker 65 at Wendover

More information on this vintage warbird on my Photos by Friends & Guests (25) and Page (39)
By Sep.2018 I learned that N8502R was still here, but where would it go? Propellor airtankers are getting rare
and flying DC-4/C-54s are also getting as rare as hen's teeth... Either it moves to Alaska or this is the last stop.

A few more photos by Nick Taylor of Wendover,UT:

Wendover, Utah

Wendover, Utah
Wow, that is some view!

Wendover, Utah
The airport is almost a ghost town.

Wendover, Utah
Nick wrote: "There is a small museum inside the main building by the tower. Several items are on display with lots
of photos on the wall and several dioramas. Small gift shop is adjacent to the operations desk for the airport.
I asked if I could get out on the ramp (wanted up close shots of the C-54). The guy said no, but you can drive
all around the base roads. Found the F-86L in one of the hangars. The canopy has been removed and I believe
I saw it sitting out on the ramp by the hangar. Shame, that plexiglass wont last long out there."

That F-86 Sabre came from the remains of a museum at Battle Mountain,NV, check HERE...

That museum here at Wendover has been in the works for years, check out www.wendoverairbase.com

Ken Stoltzfus sent me this 04Feb2015, he wrote:"...thought you might be interested in an attempt to revive Columbine II. You can see details at www.john2031.com/columbine/main.html and I'm attaching an announcement (see below) and photo that we're sending out to some folks."

The attached 'press release' read as follows:
February 4th, 2015 - Bridgewater, VA

Will Pres. Eisenhower’s 'Columbine II' Fly Again?
A Bridgewater, VA company is exploring the possibility of returning Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 'Columbine II' to the air. The 1948 USAF Lockheed C-121A Constellation, the first presidential aircraft to be called 'Air Force One', is presently languishing in the Arizona desert.
Dynamic Aviation, who offers a variety of aviation services to government and commercial customers, is exploring the viability of purchasing and preserving Columbine II as a symbol to future generations of America’s values at that time in our history.
Several key questions remain unanswered including the availability of certain Constellation parts and the specific engines and propellers that Columbine II requires. Dynamic Aviation is conducting a worldwide search in the hope that these essential items can be located and acquired, otherwise they see no way to pursue the preservation of this national treasure.
Columbine II was retired by the USAF in 1968 and sold surplus in 1970. It then sat in salvage yards in Arizona until 1990 when it was made airworthy again. After flying a few hours it was parked in Marana, AZ (Marana Northwest Regional Airport -Webmaster) in 2003 and has not been aloft since.
For further details and contact information please visit www.john2031.com/columbine/main.html

Ken Stoltzfus, Communications Coordinator (eml: columbine ATsign flyinghigher DOT net)
P.O. Box 228, Kidron, Ohio, 44636 USA
('Permission is hereby granted to use other photos that we have posted, for your announcement of this effort.')

This was followed by a 01May2015 update:
"Columbine II, the first presidential Air Force One, will be under new ownership this summer as a restoration process gets under way in Arizona. Dynamic Aviation of Bridgewater, Virginia completed its due diligence this week and decided to proceed with the purchase of the 1948 Lockheed C-121A Constellation used by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Owners Harry Oliver and Lockie Christler — son of the late Mel Christler, who had owned it for years — will sell the Connie to Dynamic founder Karl. D. Stoltzfus Sr.
Among the project’s other supporters are Mid America Flight Museum of Mt. Pleasant, Texas.
Dynamic wants to make the aircraft airworthy and fly it home as a certificated aircraft rather than on a ferry permit. No completion date has been set."

I visited Marana Northwest Regional Airport (previously commonly known as Avra Valley Airport - Wikipedia) in 2008, see MY REPORT.

Due to financial difficulties at Dynamic Aviation staff had to be layed off while others had to be reassigned from this project to more commercial tasks. So the project was paused late-Dec.2020.

Henk Geerlings sent me this vintage photo of a Bristol Freighter at Rotterdam-Zestienhoven

Channel Air Bridge Bristol Freighter . Zestienhoven. 06 dec 59
Bristol Freighter of Channel Air Bridge visiting Rotterdam's airport Zestienhoven on 06Dec1959

In light of this picture I can recommend browsing this page: www.oud16hoven.nl/page2.html

Rolf Keller sent me this image of the Air Lekkerbek restaurant on St.Maarten, so I could add it to my Off-Airport Gallery It may be operational as a restaurant again, not sure.

Ted Quackenbush was always the 'resident airtanker specialist' for Oregon for me and I am proud I can share some
of his images on my website: Ted's Airtankers & other propliners. I hope more images will follow.

Propliners by Gerben Groothuis
N201AR/(56-2001) C-133A - Mojave,CA,15JUL83

This is one of 22 imageS sent to me by Gerben Groothuis, which prompted me to create a seperate page:
PROPLINERS BY GERBEN GROOTHUIS

'Reaper6' (Jeff Nordin) posted this recent winter image on the Warbird Exchange WIX forum, which is a nice update to my Oct.2014 image, see my 25Oct14 McCall visit.

These photos by Jeff Nordin of PV-2 Harpoon N7086C Tanker 112 were published on the Facebook page of the 'Fire Bombers' community.
I include them here because when I came across it at Chandler, its future looked bleak but to see it continue to survive raises hopes for some sort of preservation. For its history see Chandler,AZ 2008

Tanker 112 N7086C at Chandler, by Jeff Nordin

Tanker 112 N7086C at Chandler, by Jeff Nordin
Note 'Not Scrap' written on.

Chris Kennedy sent me a nice update on IAR tankers still present at Coolidge,AZ

Tanker 81, C-130 N131FF (ex/ 56-530) reg'd N125TG (reserved 19Mar14). '81' is its former US Forest tanker code.
Visit my page Coolidge,AZ visit 2008 for the full update.

Phil Gies wrote me Dec.2014:
"I am quite involved in a website and archive titled 'Flin Flon Heritage Project', displaying and preserving the history of Flin Flon, Manitoba.
Much of the Canadian North was opened up by aircraft and we have many old photos."

Here is a link to part of our collection, it offers a fantastic selection of (aviation) images, some dating back to the 1920s & 1930s-
http://flinflonheritageproject.com/transportation/

Christopher Hoage shared this image of a Curtiss C-46 Commando, apparently in use as a shed (?) in Riverside,CA.

See more and other such images which defy identification: Search For..

Jason Pineau, whose career I have followed from Vancouver Island to Yellowknife where he succeeded in starting a flying career, and whose talent in photography is a sight to be hold, has entered a new phase in his career: he will be flying a Cessna Caravan in Vietnam.
Among recent uploads on Flickr, with fantastic images of Saigon and urban life there, was this Douglas C-47 at the Saigon museum:

DC-3 / C-47 preserved at Ho Chi Minh City
Jason commented: "Sitting in a far corner of the Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam." -21Dec14-

Link to Jason's photography on Flickr.com HERE..

www.seaplanes.vn

Mike Bursell sent me this image as an update to my Coolidge,Az 2008 report. This cockpit of an unidentified Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a recent addition at Coolidge.

Do you have info on the ident? EMAIL

Ron Lund sent me these images in dec.2014.

The Yukon Goose
Ron wrote: "Did some serious searching and discovered the two photos I was thinking about, on the Goose which
were originally taken by Greg Lee, back in the 70's while demanning a fire. And finally found them!
Greg and I worked together back then. I had actually dropped these guys on this fire from a DC-3 previously,
as the spotter (jump master) not the pilot. It was on a ridge top and the jumpspot was pretty small, as I recollect.
If I remember correctly the fire was an oil shale fire, smouldering under ground in rocks along this ridge.
Impossible to completely extinguish. You'll have to check with Greg, he has the details"

The Yukon Goose
I like the informality of this shot, like chatting from a car down the road.

Greg wrote me after posting these photos: "Ron Lund was the spotter on my very first fire jump as a smokejumper, The fire was east of Fairbanks and the Yukon; on the Kandik River. So, we walked downhill, 3 miles to the Kandik, to be picked up by Jim Pickering in the BLM-owned Grumman G-21.
The C-47 that Ron Lund was spotting the six of us from was contracted by the BLM from Christler Flying Service (www.conniesurvivors.com/1-christler_flying_service.htm).

Now to the identification of this Turbine Goose (McKinnon-conversion G-21G, McKinnon Enterprises Inc, Sandy, Oregon) shown on these photos.
In Feb.2015 Greg followed up with this:
"I was talking to Ron Lund about the two McKinnon Turbo Grumman Geese owned by the BLM at the time, also shown in a picture on your Photos by Friends & Guests (33); Dave Marion talks about the hull vent being only on N642, and not the earlier McKinnon modified N640.
Notice on my photo of the Turbo Goose showing Jim Pickering and the left side of the Goose, there is no hull vent modification showing like there is in the picture of the Goose on 'page 33'.
So I think I can say with confidence, and Ron Lund agrees, that the Turbo Goose that picked the six of us up on the Kandik River is definitely N640!"
(Webmaster- the information on 'Page 31' suggests we have to speak of a Grumman G-21A here as N640 was never officially certified and registered as a McKinnon aircraft).

You asked about my camera then: I think that I had bought my Rollei 35 (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollei_35) in 1971, 2 years before I started to work for BLM in Fairbanks. It was very compact & used a wonderful Carl Zeiss lens.

An excellent account of life and hardship of Smokejumpers can be read in Murry A. Taylor's book:
'JUMPING FIRE: A SMOKEJUMPER’S MEMOIR OF FIGHTING WILDFIRE'
www.jumpingfire.com

Here is a photo sent by Stanley Wanlass, who wrote: "I took this photo of Grumman Goose N640 in 1963 while working for the BLM in Alaska; it was taken at Spenard Field in Anchorage."
Stanley sent me a 2nd photoof N640 but it was too poor in quality to reproduce; it was taken on Engineer Lake, on the Kenai Peninsula.
Grumman Goose N640 at Spenard Field in Anchorage

Grumman Goose N640 at Spenard Field in Anchorage

More vintage images from the Jacques Hemet Collection HERE...

Scott Alford sent me this nice update, shows deHavilland DHC-3 C-FODQ converted to turbine power!

Scott wrote me: "I found your website featuring the bush planes of Red Lake, Ont. a couple of years ago, what great info you have on the planes!
I first went to Red Lake in 1982 and have been flying out of there every summer since. I have flown in all of the planes registered to Chimo Air. Peter Hagedorn has flown the charters for a company called Canadian Fly-In Fishing for years (that is who I fish with). I see Peter around the float base for some years and have had a nice chat with him on several occasions.
I have an update on CF-ODQ: a few years back Peter had the radial engine removed and replaced with a turbine.
As you know this significantly increases the speed and payload of the plane."

UPDATE!!!
Spring 2018 I read the following: "CHIMO AIR SERVICE and CHIMO LODGE AND OUTPOSTS have been purchased by Superior Air.
Watch for big changes in the near future for the air service.
After building 2 very successful businesses, Peter has decided to retire. Birgit Wilson will be working for another float plane business operating in the area.
Ian Partridge and Steve Rickli are staying on as pilots after the takeover. The rest of the staff have found other employment in the area.
The 2 turbine otters are painted blue and white, while 'SMS and Peter's plane, 'NPO will stay as they are. To all our friends and customers,it is so hard to say goodbye. We wish you well on all your adventures!"
./end quote

Not exactly an image befitting this gallery, as it is a mere screendump of Google Earth. But while I was working on a few mysteries concerning my visit to Greybull,WY recently, I stumbled on a few stored Lockheed PV-2 Harpoons at
Buffalo,WY. While Greybull had been a stretch for my itinerary, Sheridan and Buffalo were out of reach; but perhaps this way I can find out if the stored Harpoons, as still to be seen on this Google Earth image, are in fact still current and which ones they are...

Google Maps / Google Earth shows 2 complete airframes at Buffalo,WY. I suppose they are N7080C and N7272C, Lockheed PV-2s. Ex Hirth Air Tankers.
And there is also an incomplete airframe, which seems quite similar to the complete airframes.
At one point Gary Hilton's PV-2T2 N7458C was parked there; did it leave?
Anyone with a current or recent update on these?
Google Earth opens with an image that could be 2014, not sure. And the history ruler slides to a 2009 image with only 2 airframes. The above image was compiled with the opening -2014?- image.

The identities I have from
www.oldprops.ukhome.net/Lockheed L20 Harpoon-L20 Ventura census.htm

N7080C (2003) www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1008627/ by then still in white livery, T#39
N7272C(2003) www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1008625/ metal finish, grey nose (note update below)

N7458C (2003) www.abpic.co.uk/photo/1008626/ metallic finish, red nose
Gary Hilton was in 2009 'in proces of trucking' N7458C to Lone Jack, Missouri (but afaik never happened).

N7670C also resided at Buffalo and had a grey nose too, but was flown out (2006?) to Heber City,UT and beautifully restored. At this time (Dec.2014) for sale at www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/1516062.html for US$ 390.000,00

The 3 airframes at Buffalo has one Harpoon in white finish and one, complete, 'Poon in metallic. But I cannot make out the colour of the nose. The incomplete airframe seems also in a white finish or is it bleached metal finish reflecting sunshine?

These were also the four PVs (and no other propliners) listed in Roy Blewett's 'Survivors 2002', with N7080C listed as 'active or airworthy' and the others as 'stored'.

Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon tailnumber N7458C, Tanker #37
www.warbirdregistry.org/pv2harpoonregistry/pv2harpoon-37234.html
It has a red nose and red tailend on this 2006 image.
Reg'd to Gary Hilton.

UPDATE DEC.2014:
"The partial airframe is Gary's . The other two airframes, Tanker 39 and N7272C, are still there, but have been
moved off airport property per city request."

UPDATE NOV.2018
N7272C (Bu.37276; c/n 15-1242) went to the Vintage Aviation Museum for restoration; acquired through donation.
"Vintage Aviation Museum members recently visited the airframe, and took the rudders to Salt Lake City, Utah.
They hope to recover the control surfaces over the winter, and prepare the Harpoon for a 2018 ferry flight to their base in Woods Cross, Utah (just outside of Salt Lake City).
The plan is to have her flying by summer of 2019."
warbirdsnews.com/aviation-museum-news/lockheed-harpoon-bad-bone (26Nov18)
Note- mention is made of 'other hulks' so I suppose the other residents remain present at Buffalo,WY.

Paul Koopman sent me a very nice update for my OFF-AIRPORT (LATIN AMERICA) Gallery; follow this link for more images, and the details, on YS-11 P4-YSA (c/n 2131).

YS-11 abandoned roadside restaurant on Curacao

Michael Davis sent me this image of DC-3 N5831B; he wrote:

"My name is Michael Davis and I took this photo on 10Dec2002 of N5831B at Marana,AZ.
I did some volunteer work on her while John Johnson owned her. She was at Marana temporarily. The airport itself services mostly small private aircraft, not commercial airliners."

I have a considerable dossier on this C-47 'Skytrain', see N473DC Drag 'Em Oot

Nigel Hitchman forwarded this image of abandoned DC-3 CF-OOY on Baffin Island, taken by Eddie McCallum this summer (2014).
For the details you'll have to visit my gallery of ABANDONED PLANE WRECKS OF THE ARCTIC NORTH

Created: 14-Dec-2014