During the next 40-years, it passed through a number of owners and was re-registered N300A in October 1951, N700E in October 1961, N20DH in June 1970, N3BA in July 1972, N890P in April 1979 and N12RB in August 1990. In July 1993, it was purchased by Vintage Air Tours of Orlando, Florida, which had been formed by Richard Branson as an offshoot of Virgin International and, operating as Vintage Airways, began operating flights from Kissimmee to Key West, Florida.
On October 17, 1993, my wife and I boarded this aircraft for a flight
to Key West International Airport. Vintage Airways attempted to take
the passengers back to May 8, 1945 by dressing the stewardess (no
flight attendants in 1945) in a long skirt and seamed nylon stockings.
As we boarded, she handed out magazines of the period, e.g. Collier's,
Life, Look, Saturday Evening Post, etc.
After we took off and reached
a cruising altitude of 7,000 ft (2,134 m), the stewardess came on the
PA (public address) system and announced that they had just picked up
an important message on the radio. She then played a tape of
President Harry Truman announcing the German surrender in Europe. She
said it was time to celebrate and we sat there at 09.00 hours
drinking mimosas (four parts champagne and one part orange juice).
One passenger at a time was allowed into the cockpit and handed a
headset with a "hot" mike so they could talk to the pilots.
A very enjoyable flight. After spending a day in Key West, we boarded
the aircraft that night for our flight back to Kissimmee but they had
engine trouble and we had to fly back on a commercial Embraer
EMB-120RT Brasilia. I preferred the DC-3!
Vintage Airways flew until 1997 but they went out of business and
this DC-3 was withdrawn from service in September. It was sold and
re-registered N33VW in June 1998. The final sale was to the Cavanaugh
Flight Museum of Addison, Texas, on June 12, 2001.
08/31/2010. As of this date, the aircraft is in flying condition, and finished in military colors, resembling an USAAF Ninth AF C-47 on D-Day, June 6, 1944, however, these markings are fictitious. The radio call sign 320401 was never issued, but is a mixture of the year it was built, 1943, and the c/n 20401. The unit code C8-C and the nose cartoon 'Mr. "C" - It's Tuesday' are explained by Cavanaugh Flight Museum Volunteer Ed Kettler:
The plane is a tribute to Jim Cavanaugh Senior's family, where the C8 refers to the 8 children, and the cartoon character under the pilot's window refers to Jim Cavanaugh, Senior. Mr. "C" was working on the restoration of the museum’s PT-19, and kept getting asked when it would be done; his answer was "Tuesday". So, when the day came and the test flight was completed, one of the other restorers turned to Mr. "C" and said "It's Tuesday" with a big smile."
