Aircraft N101KC Data

This aircraft was built as C-53D 42-68712 and delivered to USAAF on 3/6/43. Assigned to 8th Air Force in Europe 11/29/43. Returned to USA for storage 7/10/45, five weeks later going to Reconstruction Finance Corp. Purchase by Pan American Airways after a lease on 8/25/49 and registered as N45375. On 3/8/56 it went to Bouquillas Co. of Brownsville, TX, and a conversion to DC-3C was taken place on 5/4/56 in St. Louis, Mo and re-registered as N101KC. During 1966 it was purchased by Walker Manufacturing of Racine, WI, and in Sept 1968 it went to Spremich Enterprises of New Orleans, LA. In Oct 1970 it was acquired by Accredited Ambulance Services, but went back to Spremich in Jan 1972. Hawkeye Airlines of Ottumwa, IA acquired the plane in 1974. The plane continued changing hands, with locations in Wyoming and Nevada until 1987 when it was acquired by Ken Spiva of Wildcat Airways (operating DC-6 fire-bombers) and taken to Lodi, CA. This information from Arthur Pearcy’s 1988 book, “Douglas DC-3 Survivors.” Since that time, it was acquired by the Boeing Company, but the plane is now on display at Museu Asa de Um Sonho, San Carlos, Brazil.