A DC3 aircraft will be arriving in Great Falls, Montana on April 27

2015 is the 70th Anniversary of the U.S. and Russian declaration of victory over Nazi Germany during World War II. As part of the 70th anniversary, Russians have asked Dwayne King to honor and remember the occasion with a flight retracing the route the fighters took as there were being ferried across two continents. Mr. King and his organization, Kingdom Air Corps, have since found and purchased a DC3, which will be used for the commemoration. The plan calls for the triumphant trek to begin in Great Falls. Anyone who is interested in seeing the aircraft or learning more about this important part of our nation’s history is invited to join in as the adventure to relive history begins.

Commemorative Flight Coming to Great Falls

The Breitling DC-3 Dakota in Findel, Luxembourg

Aviation enthusiasts should mark May 2 and 3, 2015 in their datebooks when the airport in Findel will host a plane exhibition with over a dozen historic and contemporary models on display.

Rare DC-3 treat at Shannon Ireland (SNN)

Aircraft and aviation enthusiasts enjoyed a very rare treat this week with the arrival of a 73-year-old Douglas DC-3 at Shannon Airport.

The twin turboprop plane flew almost 8 hours across the Atlantic from St John’s in Newfoundland, Canada and made an overnight stop at Shannon on Wednesday.

The Priority Air Charter, operating on behalf of charity organization Samaritan’s Purse, departed again early yesterday en route to Malta from where it was due to continue to Africa to carry out missionary work.

http://clareherald.com/2015/04/03/rare-treat-for-plane-spotters-at-shannon-42461/

Thefts tarnish DC-3 owner's dream

Alan Carberry sees beauty. The beauty of the DC-3 as a shining whole. The beauty of the DC-3's history as an aviation staple. And the beauty of the DC-3 as it fits his dream.

That's why he struggles to understand why someone would break into the factory property and take metal parts for the airplane. But that's exactly what happened between 11:30 p.m. March 18 and 5 a.m. March 19, when a tank and pieces of the wings and tail were stolen.

http://www.pal-item.com/story/news/crime/2015/03/25/carberry-airplane/70462266/

Retired pilots fight to keep Missoula smokejumper DC-3 in service

 

“Jump-15”, a Douglas DC-3, came off the assembly line on June 12, 1945, and has been in service ... Jump 15 used to be a C-47, and then a DC-3.

http://missoulian.com/news/local/retired-pilots-fight-to-keep-missoula-smokejumper-plane-in-service/article_2ebdf9e6-6eae-55c9-ac69-f08123e73d3f.html

DC-3 Restoration Update at the New England Air Museum

The New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut is currently undertaking the wholesale restoration of their Douglas DC-3.

http://www.warbirdsnews.com/category/aviation-museum-news/new-england-air-museum

Chilean mountaineers find lost DC-3

Chilean mountaineers find plane lost in Andes over 53 years ago

BY ANTHONY ESPOSITO

SANTIAGO Mon Feb 9, 2015 7:31pm EST

(Reuters) - After a grueling journey up into the rarefied air of the Andes mountains, an expedition team announced it has discovered the fuselage of a passenger plane that went missing over a half century ago.

The LAN Chile Douglas DC-3 twin-propeller aircraft was reported missing on April 3, 1961, near the city of Linares, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) south of the Chilean capital of Santiago. Eight players and the coach of the top-flight Green Cross soccer club as well as three referees were among the 24 passengers traveling aboard the plane.

The airline, now part of Latam Airlines Group, the region's largest carrier, was state-owned at the time of the accident.

Rescuers found the tail end of the aircraft and some human remains a week after the crash, an official who asked not to be named told Reuters, but the recovery effort was abandoned near the snow-capped peaks due to its dangerous and remote location.

The rediscovery of the plane is shedding new light on the tragedy, and rekindling the hopes of a long-awaited farewell for some of the passengers' surviving family members.

To get to the crash site at 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) above sea level, the nine-member mountaineering team traveled two days by horseback, traversing streams and ravines, and then spent another two days climbing deep into the mountains. It took another two days to get back down.

For expedition team leader Lower Lopez, who unsuccessfully made two attempts last year to locate the plane, the third time was the charm. January to April is typically the best time of the year to climb in the Chilean Andes south of the capital.

His team found pieces of the plane, including a propeller, scattered about a rocky slope.

"We also found human remains," Lopez told Reuters on Monday.

Several family members want to make the journey to the site themselves to pay their final respects, he said.

"They want to go up, close a chapter in their lives, see where the plane and the remains of their loved ones are," said Lopez, adding that some family members had reached out to him personally. Efforts to contact family members for this story were unsuccessful.

"If they aren't physically able, I won't go up with them ... it's too dangerous," Lopez added.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito, editing by G Crosse)