N346AB's Story

August 26, 2007

346AB is out of maintenance in Alice, and now in Hondo for paint. With a little luck, she'll be ready to go to the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada this September. Not to race, but to show off a little. We can't wait to see how she looks.

As we continue to dig into her past, we find the most amazing things. From Canadian sources, it appears that she was built as a C-47B-35-DK for the RAF. We think that DK stands for Dakota, the British designation.

We know that she's had a lot of different serial numbers and IDs. Her data plate has two serial numbers, 16689/33437. Again, we think, but don't have confirmed yet, that 16689 was her Douglas serial number, and 33437 was her British serial number. Her USAAF serial number was 44-77109, and her RAF ID number was KP224. After she was transferred to the RCAF, she was re-ID'd as 12905, and her military type designation was changed to CC-129. Demobilized in the '80s, she was put into civilian service in Canada as C-GSCB. Of course, now that she's back in the US, her new registration is N346AB, and her type certificate is DC3C-R-1830-90C.

So who was she with and what did she do?

We know that she was built in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, at the Douglas Aircraft Factory, which is now part of Tinker AFB. We have a reference to a woman who worked there at that time, a "Rosie the Riveter". We hope to find her and interview her for this story.

Her RAF Aircraft Card is shown below, Note that the card doesn't indicate any serial number. Our only link between the airplane as we know it and KP224 is a couple of unconfirmed internet sources, although one is a respected Canadian record keeper. If we can find any confirming paperwork, we'll have her provenance established beyond a doubt. But our confidence is very high, so we'll continue on with KP224's story in hopes it is the same plane.

Her card indicates that she was with the RAF 77 Squadron at Kemble in June of 1945. 77 Squadron was a bomber squadron throughout the war, right up until the end, when they converted to transports. KP224 was only with 77 Sq a couple of months, according to her aircraft card. From Harry Shinkfield, historian of 77 Squadron, all of their transports were reassigned to India at the end of the war. He has no record of KP224, but it was a chaotic time, so that's inconclusive.

The entry then shows that she was assigned to 436 Squadron, and a couple of months later to 435 Squadron. Both of these were Canadian (RCAF) transport squadrons that served in Burma and India during the war. Both are still active squadrons in the Canadian Air force. We have recently contacted the 435/436 Squadrons Association, and hope to hear from them soon. Perhaps some old pictures of her are available, and even better, some surviving crew. What a joy that would be.

From the end of the war until the 1980s, we've lost track of her service in Canada. Again, we have letters in to the squadrons, hoping to learn more.

After being demobilized in the 80s, we know that at one point she flew for Sky Charter Malton, and reportedly later for Air BC (British Columbia), which is now part of Air Canada. It's possible that she flew for Air BC first, but that's still unconfirmed. The photo below shows her in Sky Charter colors. We think Malton was a regional office for Sky Charter. Both organizations, Sky Charter and Air BC still exist, and we have letters in requesting information. We found the photo in a collection of postcards from a little card store in Columbus, Ohio, based on an internet search for C-GSCB, her Canadian civil registration. Very odd, but luck works like that.

International Air, as seen below, were the faded markings on her when she entered maintenance in Alice. IA is completely unknown to us at present. But something will turn up, no doubt. There are still lots of stories, mysteries and clues to be run down. We'll let you know when we hear more.

N346AB is currently in maintenance at Mesquite Aviation in Alice, Texas. This is how she looked on June 10th, 2006. We've learned from various sources that she was delivered to the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a Dakota IV, in June 1945. She operated out of England till the end of the war, serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), continuing operations in Europe until at least 1946, when she was transferred to the Canadian government. She served with 77 Sq, 435 Sq and 436 Sq under the RAF/RCAF,confirmed, with the ID marking KP224. We're researching Canadian records to obtain any other squadrons and operational history while she served with them, until sometime in the '60s (unconfirmed). At some point, she flew with AirBC in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadian registry number C-GSCB. She became a freighter sometime later, then was sold to an American and wound up back in the USA. She was again put in freight service. On her skin, you can see the very faded outline of International Air. Current information from FAA records: Aircraft (FAA):   Manufacturer: Douglas Model: DC3C-R-1830-90C    Year built: 1945 Serial Number (C/N): 16693 Mode S Code: 50751632 Aircraft Type: Fixed wing multi engine Amateur-Built: No Number of Seats: 32 Number of Engines: 2 Engine Type: Reciprocating Engine Manufacturer and Model: P & W R-1830 SERIES     Status (FAA):   Certification Class Standard Certification Issued: 1999-10-29 Air Worthiness Test: 1994-08-24 Air Last Action Taken: 2006-01-17