Hotel DC-3 Display - October 3, 2024
During his September 2024 visit to Papua, New Guinea, world traveler and aviation enthusiast Bo-Goran Lundkvist photographed DC-3/C-47 P2-002, which is on display at the Airways Hotel at Port Moresby Jackson’s International Airport. Gerard Helmer photographed the aircraft at Port Moresby - Jacksons International Airport in the mid-1980's, while it was in service with the New Guinea Air Defence Force. I've also included a link to additional photos of the aircraft on the www.adf-serials.com.au website.
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NOAA WP-3D's - August 25, 2024
Richard Vandervord visited NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) in Lakeland, Florida on August 23, 2024 and photographed the organization's two "Hurricane Hunter" WP-3D Orions. He noted...They are immaculate, belying their almost 50 years use as Hurricane Hunters. N42RF is "Kermit" and N43RF is "Miss Piggy." Richard also included a photo of N43RF taken in Miami, Florida way back in September 1979.
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Amsterdam F-27 and DC-3 Cockpit - August 21, 2024
Amsterdam was a stop on our around-the-world cruise and my good friend and fellow aviation enthusiast Michael Prophet was kind enough to pick me up at the cruise terminal and gave me an "aviation themed" tour of the area, including a perimeter tour of Schiphol Airport and a stop at the Luchtvaart Hobby Shop. The hobby shop is the largest aviation products store I've ever been in and offered an amazing array of aviation models, books, posters, a DC-3 cockpit (N54607/G-BPMP) and just about anything else that an aviation enthusiast might want. We also made a brief stop near the former Fokker plant where I photographed F-27 PH-NIV, which is nicely positioned over a small pond. Lunch was at the Wings Restaurant, which was next to the original Schiphol control tower. Final stop before heading back to the ship was a large aircraft spotting area, complete with a food truck and picnic tables. Many thanks to Michael for a great tour! I would have very much liked to visit the Aviodrome but our time in port was too short to allow a visit to the museum. Perhaps next time!
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Former RCAF Buffalo - July 13, 2024
CC-115 115462 is one of the last six Buffalo aircraft retired from the Royal Canadian Air Force and is on display at Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada in Winnipeg. The Buffalo served an impressive 55 years with the RCAF from 1967 to 2022.
Airports & Airline Planes Photos 1950-1980 - July 10, 2024
Noted aviation writer and photographer Bob Bogash has created a wonderful collection of airliner photographs on his website. The photos go back to the mid-1950's when Bob, as an intrepid youngster, would hitchhike from his home in New Rochelle, New York to Idlewild (JFK) and LaGuardia Airports in faraway Queens, New York. I grew up just a few miles away from Idlewild/JFK Airport and his Idlewild/JFK Propliners (1957-68) photos bring back memories of visits to the airport during my youth. Many thanks to Bob for sharing his awesome photo collection!
Red Bull DC-6B - June 7, 2024
Greg Mape caught up with Red Bull DC-6B OE-LDM in Llanbedr, Wales and forwarded the following report and photos. "A DC-6 aircraft owned by Red Bull was operating out of the airfield at Llanbedr, Wales on May 31, 2024. The aircraft was built in 1958 and was used by President Tito of Yugoslavia back in the day. I understand there was a Red Bull sponsored Mountain Bike event near Machynlleth and it had flown over the area a couple of times."
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Old Warden Airfield Visitors - June 1, 2024
Fred Barnes photographed four DC-3/C-47's and a Be18 that visited Old Warden Airfield and forwarded the following report and photos. "On Saturday 25th May 2024 the 'D-Day Legacy Tour 2024' US aircraft visited the Shuttleworth Collection at the Old Warden Airfield, Bedfordshire, UK. The four US aircraft flew from the UK base at North Weald and arrived overhead Old Warden in formation prior to an 'in stream' landing for each aircraft. A magnificent sight and sound on a rare sunny day. I’ve included six photos including formation arrival and one of each aircraft."
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Beech H18 N700TN c/n BA-718, which is based in the UK, was also a visitor to Old Warden on 25th May 2024.
Aero Dinosaur YouTube Channel - April 5, 2024
John Reed's Aero Dinosaur YouTube channel features a large and very entertaining collection of Propliner related videos. "AeroDinosaur focuses on the twilight operations of large obsolete propliners and similar military aircraft that dominated the 1930's through the early 1960's eras. It's mainly about legacy heavy piston aircraft such as the Douglas DC-7, DC-6, Lockheed Super Constellation, Boeing B-29 Superfortress, Martin 404 and others, operating in their twilight years from the late 1980's to the present, in freighter, "museum" and private operations. Most of this "full-and-accurate" audio/video footage is rare and otherwise unpublished up to now." It's definitely a "go-to" website for any Propliner enthusiast.
Kelowna Convairs - February 29, 2024
John Olafson reports from Kelowna, BC. "I popped in to KF Aerospace for a quick look around and the two CV580’s are looking great. I noticed N580HW is sporting some advertising on the tail. It will get the attention of motorists driving along the road inside the airport. And the photo of C-FKFA and N580HW shows the edge of the roof on the south section of the museum. It was designed to replicate the leading edge of an aircraft and that’s a nice touch. The north section of the building has the same feature on the roof edge."
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Shell Creek Airpark DC-3's - February 13, 2024
Ethan King reports on his recent visit to Shell Creek Airpark. "This past week I was on vacation in the Sarasota, Florida area and decided to try to visit Shell Creek Airpark. After getting permission I was able to walk around and take a look at the many DC-3s that are there. I recalled that recently "Lady Luck" was moved there from Punta Gorda Airport but did not see any photos of her after being at her new home. I took a few and have attached them here. She looks pretty good considering the storm damage. Her wings and tail are still removed and you can see some of the damage to the flaps and around the horizontal stabilizer. Hopefully she will be put back together and flying at some point."
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Former Ozark Airlines DC-3 Hulk - January 24, 2024
John photographed former Ozark Airlines DC-3 N139D at Malcolm Island, Saskatchewan, Canada in 2015. The aircraft, which crashed on takeoff July 10, 1969 was still wearing Ozark Airlines colors and titles. John reports "N139D (c/n 2027) was delivered to TWA as NC18953 in January 1938 and impressed for USAAF service as C-84 42-57513 in June 1942. Returned to civil registry as NC18953 in October 1944 and acquired by Ozark in May 1953 and registered N139D. Sold by Ozark in December 1965 and operated by a number of owners until crashing on takeoff at Malcolm Island on July 10, 1969, while on a charter flight to Duluth, Minnesota. It was owned by JH Logsdon at that time and there were no fatalities or injuries."
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"End of the World" C-47A - January 19, 2024
Our cruise ship "Serenade of the Seas" made a two-day visit to Ushuaia, Argentina and my eagle-eyed wife Dee Dee noticed a DC-3 from our cruise ship balcony. Turns out, the airplane was former Armada de la Republica Argentina C-47A (serial 0172/code 5-T-22, c/n 9578), which is on display at the general aviation area of Comandante Berisso International Airport. The aircraft entered service with the US Army Air Force around 1942 as 42-23716 and later served with the Armada de la Republica Argentina as serial 0172/code 5-T-22. It was withdrawn from use in 1979 and went to the Aeroclub in about 1985. Restored in 2004, it was placed on display adjacent to the Ushuaia Aeroclub. A new modern airport was opened in 1995, replacing an older one, which is now used by the Ushuaia Aeroclub. Being the great wife she is, Dee Dee agreed to hike over to the airport (about 1.5 miles each way) later in the day after our tour and I took some photographs of it. Ushuaia is located on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago which is on the southernmost tip of South America. Nicknamed the "End of the World" the city is the gateway to Antarctica cruise ship and scientific expeditions.
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Song of the Clouds - Air Travel in 1956 - January 15, 2024
Check out this great Shell Oil 35-minute promotional film titled Song of the Clouds - Air Travel in 1956, featuring a smorgasbord of vintage Propliners in action. Many thanks to John Olafson for sending the link.
California Propliner Roadtrip - January 8, 2024
Sean Keating is currently traveling through California photographing interesting Propliner relics. He reports "Cary Grant's CV240 is currently stored in Shafter, California. I have been watching it every year since I saw it on a trailer. This year it has simply moved 100 feet into a compound." For more photos and information about this aircraft, check out Sean's December 2019 report on Ruud Leeuw’s website. (search ctrl F for "N396CG")
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Unalakleet C-97 Storage Shed - November 15, 2023
As reported in a May 4, 2020 post on this website, C-97L N4580Q was written off after catching fire while offloading fuel in Unalakleet, Alaska on May 18, 1989 and the fuselage repurposed as a storage shed. Dan Baldini photographed the fuselage in 2007/08 and I believe it is still in use as a storage shed. Can anyone confirm this?
Don Q C-97G - September 22, 2023
I was in Wisconsin for my daughter's wedding this past weekend and stopped by Dodgeville, Wisconsin to have a look at C-97G N227AR. The aircraft has been on display outside the Don Q Inn since October 16, 1977, when it was flown to the adjacent Dodgeville Airport (now closed). There's a very interesting video titled Landing a C-97G at Dodgeville, where the pilot Tom Thomas gives a talk about landing the massive aircraft on the airport's 2,700 x 30-foot runway. (Footage of the landing begins at 26:09 in the video)
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Circa 1970 UAL DC-6 and DC-6B's Stored in Tracy, California - September 22, 2023
Richard Broome recently posted an absolutely fascinating circa 1970 photo of 45 former United Airlines DC-6 and DC-6B stored at Tracy Municipal Airport on the Douglas Big Props Facebook Group. United retired the DC-6 on February 28, 1970, with most being put out to pasture at Tracy, a small general aviation airport in central California. According to Richard, N37572, N37577 and N37581 were the last in service but they were not stored at Tracy nor were any of the cargo DC-6A's. The DC-6A's were still very much in demand with second tier cargo haulers and many had long post-UAL careers. The passenger aircraft were essentially worthless as airliners and most of the aircraft stored at Tracy were broken up by Mars Aviation and their valuable components, such as engines sold off. Twenty years later, I flew over this airport on a number of occasions and I can attest that there was no trace of the DC-6's. Many thanks to Richard for sharing Captain Ricky Lewis' photo.
Former BOAC DC-7C Forward Fuselage - September 20, 2023
Antti Hyvarinen visited the European Museum of Hunting Aviation (Musee Europeen de l'Aviation de Chasse) in Montelimar, France on September 16th and photographed the forward fuselage of DC-7C N90802. This aircraft was delivered new to BOAC in November 1956 as G-AOIB and sold to Saturn Airways in April 1964 as N90802. Named "Miss Germany" Saturn retired the aircraft in 1968 and it was stored at MIA. Lucky to escape the Miami scrapman that claimed a number of former Saturn DC-7C's, it was sold over the years to a number of leasing companies. It was leased to the Jolly Voyager Traveler Club in 1970 before being acquired by Aero Union in 1974 and converted to a firebomber. T&G Aviation bought the aircraft in 1979 and operated it as Tanker 115 for a number of years until it was sold to Baquero Servicios Aereos SL in 1995. I don't believe it was operated for very long by Baquero and it was subsequently stored at Cordoba, Spain before being acquired by the museum.
I have a bit of personal history with this aircraft. Hired by Saturn as a summer/apprentice mechanic at JFK during the summer of 1967, I spent a few weekends that spring doing some training at the airport. During one of the weekends, N90802 was being prepped for a flight to Germany, where it would spend the summer flying around Europe. The aircraft got stuck after one of its main gear broke through the thin tarmac on the maintenance ramp and was all hands-on deck to free the airplane. After finally being freed, the DC-7C made it to Germany as scheduled. It's great to see that at least part of this iconic aircraft has been saved. Many thanks to Antti for sharing his photos.
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EAA AirVenture 2023 - August 8, 2023
While not quite as many as in previous years, a fairly decent collection of Propliners attended AirVenture 2023. I spent three days at the show and, along with some of my photos, I have included additional photos taken by Antti Hyvarinen, Nigel Hitchman and Roger Syratt. Many thanks to Antti, Nigel and Roger for sharing their photos.
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Circa-1973 Mojave Stratocruisers - July 18, 2023
Henry Tenby posted a YouTube video from his series "Pre Internet Plane Spotting" featuring photos of retired Boeing B377 Stratocruisers stored at Mojave, California. The photos were taken by Gerd Killian on September 20, 1973 using Kodachrome slide film and are very impressive. It's interesting to note that Gerd appeared to have unfettered access to the aircraft...something that would never happen in today’s world of ultra secure post 9/11 airports!
Alaska 2023 - July 17, 2023
Antti Hyvarinen visited Alaska in late-May/early-June this year and graciously shared many of the photos he took in the "Propliner-Rich" region. While the number of active Propliners is decreasing, there are still quite a few active and still lots to see in the storage areas...definitely worth the trip north! Many thanks to Antti and I hope you enjoy his photos as much as I did.
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Boxcar Alive in Palmer - July 8, 2023
During Dietmar Schreiber's June 2023 visit to Alaska, he had the good fortune to witness John Reffett firing up the engines on C-119F N8501W. John treated me to the same show in 2019 and I can attest that C-119 engine runs are very impressive. In Dietmar's own words. "During my Alaska visit in June I had the great opportunity to see the Boxcar at Palmer alive. It took more than five hours from the preparation to the final engine run with both engines on full power, but it was worth every single second!" Dietmar also shot a video of the engine runs, which he posted on YouTube. Many thanks to Dietmar for sharing his photos and video.
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Nova Scotia Aviation Museums - July 1, 2023
Ken Swartz recently visited Nova Scotia and toured three aviation musuems, including the Greenwood Military Aviation Museum, Shearwater Aviation Museum and Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum.
Greenwood Military Aviation Museum
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Shearwater Aviation Museum
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Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum
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Budapest's Aeropark Museum - June 27, 2023
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The museum's collection also includes an interesting array of equipment and support vehicles including firetrucks, tugs and a number of police and other vehicles.
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South African Viking - June 26, 2023
Viking ZS-DKH was recently repainted in original Protea Airways colors by South African Airways Museum volunteers at Rand Airport. Peter Brill reports that, while the paint is pristine, the interior is stripped clean and the engine cowlings are not original. Kudos to the folks at the museum and thanks to Peter for forwarding the photos.
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Lancaster Fox Field Relics - May 21, 2023
Mark Vaughn recently visited Fox Field in Lancaster, California and photographed Armstrong Whitworth Argosy N1430Z, C-119C N13745, C-97G 53-0272 and T-38A N962NA. They are remnants of the now defunct Milestones of Flight Air Museum and it was recently reported that the C-97G has been sold. To say the least, ownership of the aircraft has been confusing and hopefully none will be scrapped.
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Tillamook Air Museum Mini-Guppy - May 20, 2023
Sean Keating visited the Tillamook Air Museum on a rainy day in February 2003 and photographed former Erickson Air Crane Mini-Guppy N422AU. The aircraft was delivered to Pan American World Airways as N1037V in September 1949 and retired by the airline in 1960. Here's a short history of the airplane from the museum's website. "The museum’s Mini-Guppy was originally delivered to Pan American Airways in 1949 as a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser (prior to its conversion), which it flew until 1960 when it was returned to Boeing and sold to Santa Barbara based Aero-Spacelines in 1963. Converted to a Mini-Guppy, it first flew in 1967. After years of commercial use and ferrying such interesting items as NASA's Pioneer 10 Spacecraft (used to explore Jupiter and the Asteroid Belt) and Goodyear's Europa Airship, it was purchased by Erickson Air Crane in 1988 and used for the transport of large Air Crane helicopters until 1994 when it was acquired by the museum and retired." Due to significant wing spar corrosion, it's extremely unlikely that this classic will ever fly again.
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Oregon Sea Heron - May 20, 2023
Sean Keating came across De Havilland DH-114 Sea Heron C-1 XR442 on the side of US 97 at mile marker 247 in Chiloquin, Oregon. It’s located on a plot of grass adjacent to Melita’s Restaurant, Motel and RV Park and across the highway from Chiloquin State Airport. Not too sure what it’s doing there and Sean noted that the right wing is mounted upside down. I guess assembly instructions weren't included in the purchase agreement. For more information about XR442, check out the Aviationweb deja vu and Aerial Visuals websites.
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