Douglas, c/n 19975, C-47A-85-DL

History

• April 4, 1944: delivered to USAAF
• Mail 28, 1945: assigned to the U.S. 9th Air Force in the European Theater on 5/28/44.
• September 24, 1945: returned to the USA and the following month went to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for disposal, later sold to Canadair Limited in Montreal
• December 10, 1945: was bought by Swedish Air Lines
• August 5, 1946: registered as SE-BBH and named “Vraken.”
• August 1, 1948: the plane was found with Scandinavian Airlines System, being named “Helge Viking,” and later “Hjalmar Viking.”
• August 17, 1953: acquired by Air Carrier Service Co and registered as N9985F. Before the year was out the plane was with Piedmont Aviation Corporation, registered as N51V, and named “Piedmont Yadkin Valley.”
• April 30, 1962: bought by Charlotte Aircraft Corporation and the following week was sold to the Spanish Air Force as T3-29, serving with Escudrone 911, bearing fuselage codes “911-9,” 911-09,” and “901-9” - the last one with Escudrone 901.
• April 30, 1980: registered G-BHUB with Aces High Ltd at Duxford, Cambridgeshire. In 1981 it carried the livery of Ruskin Air Services and registration G-AGIV while in the film “Airline.”
• 1981: photo on Flickr
• acquired by the Imperial War Museum and displayed in USAAF wartime livery with tail serial 315509

References

• airport-data.com