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History[]

Delivered to the USAAF as Skytrain 42-23719 on 22 May 1945, it remained within the USA during World War II, passing to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation on 26 August 1946. It was sold as NC47573 to General Airways Inc of Portland, Oregon.

During 1966 it was sold to North American Aviation Inc at Los Angeles. In December 1970 the new owner was Elbee Co, also from Los Angeles, who then sold it to Grinair in March 1971.

ZS-GPL was bought by the construction company Grinaker Limited in March 1971 and based at Grand Central Airport. The company named the aircraft Mosadi Mogolo and it served with Grinair until March 1976 when it was sold to Sandriver Safari for operations by United Air Services with is maintenance base at Wonderboom Airport, Pretoria.

It was re-registered in Botswana as A2-ACH with Air Services Botswana (Pty) Ltd in February 1980 for operations in the then Rhodesia to provide transport for election officials and monitors during that country’s independence elections.

The Dakota returned to United Air Services in March 1980. Sandriver Safaris/United Air Services was taken over by Wonder Air (also based at Wonderboom) in 1988, along with its fleet of DC-3s.

On 11 January 1996 ZS-GPL was sold to a traditional healer Mr S.E. Mbatha. The amount of flying done during this ownership is not known, but in 2001 ZS-GPL was purchased by Capt Flippie Vermeulen for operations by his company Springbok Classic Air. The aircraft was registered in his wife Maryna J Vermeulen’s name on 12 April 2001.

ZS-GPL was sold during 2009 to Indigo Aviation and was ferried to Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania. She was registered 5H-DAK and named Wave Dance. Her first Service with Indigo was 22 June 2009.[1]

Notes[]

  1. According to Aeromovies.

Sources[]

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