Aircraft 43-15579 Data

This aircraft was delivered to the USAAF during April 1944. No record card for WWII service is available, but the aircraft continued to serve with the post-war USAF. As a VC-47A it served with the California ANG beginning in September 1954 and used by the Governor with the name “Grizzly.” Over the years it was borrowed to ferry 144th ADW pilots to Hamilton AFB, as well as flying all the California governors and other VIPs around California. It was also used as a flying command post during floods and similar emergencies, and was equipped with communications for the governor’s office and state police. It was also on loan to the USMC during March 1971. The plane was retired in March 1973 and placed on static display at the ANG base five miles northeast of Fresno. It is now displayed at the March Field Museum. (Information from Arthur Pearcy’s “Douglas DC-3 Survivors”)