Carvair flight, Oct. 4, north Texas ? ? ?

[K5DH]

One of our VFM crew (WIXer pmahaffey) said that yesterday, Oct. 4th, he saw a large, four-engined, radial-powered airplane with dual maingear tires flying southbound from Gainesville, Texas, going right down IH-35. It was directly over his head, so he couldn't tell for sure, but he thought it was a Carvair. The last airworthy Carvair, N89FA, lives here in north Texas, and it was rumoured to be for sale. Has it been sold? Anyone know where it's headed?

For those not familiar with the Carvair, it was a modified DC-4 / C-54 airframe designed as a flying ferry to carry five automobiles and 25 people across the English Channel. Sir Freddy Laker's company did the mods. The nose was heavily modified to include large clamshell doors and folding ramps, and the flight deck was moved to a "bump" on top of the fuselage. Here is the URL for the Carvair Wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carvair

Cheers!

[TAdan]

Could this be it?

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... hp?t=24762

[Second Air Force]

The Carvair was in its normal parking spot at Gainesville three weeks ago.

[Ztex]

Hey Dean,

I saw a C-54 flying over town Saturday...It landed at Arlington...
Maybe this was the one.

http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=24762

[Lynn Allen]

It was still there this past week...

Lynn

[Tulio]

Wasn't there a Carvair at the former Perrin AFB, in North Texas?

Is this the same airplane that you guys place in Gainesville, or is it a different airplane?

Saludos,


Tulio

[K5DH]

Tulio: It's the same one (the only one left airworthy, as I understand it).

Zane: Nice photos of the C-54 on your other thread! I'm a sucker for propliners of any kind. I sure wish I'd had a chance to see (and hear) it!

All: Pat may have seen the C-54 that Zane refers to, although I'm not sure why it would have been flying at a low altitude with the gear down that far north of Arlington. Anyway, I'll mention it to him next time I see him.


Cheers!

[The Inspector]

Didn't know any were left in flying condition, I thought the last one flying had been rolled up in a ball in a landing accident @ a mine site in British Columbia a couple of years ago (I think Leeuw may have shots of the aftermath on his website). It occasionally transited through KPAE and always drew stares as it either flew past or taxiied out, the same outfit used to operate two ARGOSYs which also drew folks to the fences.

[M.P.]

Not much left:
http://www.geocities.com/anjapaul/production.htm

Pictures of N89A:
http://www.geocities.com/anjapaul/n89fa.htm

[Ztex]

The site MP linked to says The N89FA is supposedly to leave Gainesville in 2008 to fly with Brooks Fuel @ Fairbanks."

Is this true? Anyone know when?

Would be sad to see it leave Texas but great if she could find work or at least enough to keep her moving...