By Carmelo Turdo |
Major Nunn, sitting, with his crew in 1944 |
We have covered much of the World War II service history of this aircraft in our three-part series titled, Found! Daughter of World War II Veteran Locates His Douglas C-47 in the Midwest, posted in January of 2018. The story of this aircraft and her crew would not be
told today if not for the daughter of one of the pilots who happened to be
looking for her father's wartime aircraft. The lady who has researched her
father's wartime service, and found the aircraft sitting right here in the
Midwest, is Jenny Nunn Brawley, whose father, Major Thomas E. Nunn, flew this
very C-47 from September of 1944 until the end of the war in Europe. The
aircraft, named Miss Anabel Lee after Major Nunn's newlywed bride, was later
acquired by civilian operators in the U.S. and Canada.
CF-BXY getting repainted, Feb. 15, 1982, Fort St John,
British Columbia. (Photo courtesy of Stephen Aubury)
|
Records
of the DC-3's service life following demobilization resume in the 1960s forward
as N2768A, flying cargo in Canada and Alaska. In 1966 she was named Something
Special. She was owned briefly by a
Colorado company and then an oil drilling company - Knight's Rathole Drilling.
The aircraft was exported to Canada as CF-BXY and operated by North Cariboo Air
in the early 1980s, transporting hunters to remote camps, and then to Sabourin
Lake Airlines for freight operations. While with Sabourin Lake Airlines, she
was pictured on a postcard in 1994. She was sold to an owner in Texas as N68CW
in 1999, and was used to fly auto parts to factories in Mexico. The aircraft
had been with the St. Louis owner since 2007, and remained there until earlier this month.
The Basler Turbo Conversions team began their work early on Monday, June 10, and had the aircraft ready for shipping in three days. The wings and other major subassemblies were picked up by semi trucks on Thursday and the fuselage on Friday. The Aero Experience was on site to chronicle the process and update our audience on the disposition of this aircraft since last year's series of posts. We pick up the story when the DC-3 was repositioned to the less crowded south end of the apron for disassembly.
June 10: Removal of Propellers, Engines, Rudder and Vertical Stabilizer
June 12: Removal of Interior and Horizontal Stabilizer, Wing Repositioning, Separation of Fuselage from Lower Wing and Engine Mount Assembly and Removal of Landing Gear
June 13: Shipping of Sub-Assemblies and Equipment
The fuselage was on the way to the Basler Turbo Conversions facility in Oshkosh, WI Friday morning, completing the recovery of this venerable aircraft. It will join others in line for the rebuild and conversion to a modern turboprop transport. Currently, projects number 67-69 are on the factory floor, several of which were recovered in Missouri. There remain DC-3 airframes and parts scattered throughout the U.S. and Canada that could be used to assemble another airframe. Please contact Basler Turbo Conversions if you have leads on more usable aircraft or parts.
The Aero Experience thanks the Basler Turbo Conversons management and on-site crew, St. Louis Downtown Airport, Jenny Nunn Brawley and all who contributed to our previous stories and the recovery of the aircraft.
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