Engineering:Delta Ship 41

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Short description: Douglas DC-3 that flew for Delta Air Lines
Delta Ship 41
Delta-Ship-41-in-hangar-1.jpg
Delta Ship 41 in Historic Hangar 1
Type Douglas DC-3
Construction number 3278
Manufactured 1940
Registration N28341
Preserved at Delta Flight Museum

Delta Ship 41 is a Douglas DC-3 that flew for Delta Air Lines from 1941 to 1958.[citation needed]

Operational history

Delta's Ship 41 was the second of Delta's first five iconic DC-3 airplanes to be delivered from Douglas Aircraft Co. between November 1940-January 1941:

  • The first DC-3, Delta Ship 40, was christened "City of Atlanta" with a bottle of Coca-Cola. It went into scheduled service on December 24, 1940.
  • Ship 41 went into service on January 19, 1941, flying from Atlanta to Ft. Worth, Texas.[1] Delta Air Lines used the airplane for 17 years until 1958.[2]

Ship 41 was acquired by another airline in Delta’s family tree—North Central. North Central became part of Delta's history through its merger with Northwest Airlines in 2008.[3]

The aircraft then flew for a number of different airlines before finally being operated by Air Puerto Rico, a Puerto Rican cargo airline company.

Restoration

In 1990, a group of Delta retirees and enthusiasts located one of Delta's first five DC-3s in order to restore it to flying condition. Their investigation led them to "Ship 41", then flying as a cargo aircraft, registered N29PR for a local Puerto Rican airline, Air Puerto Rico. In 1993, Delta bought the aircraft from Air Puerto Rico and it was flown to Atlanta, where it underwent a five-year restoration and is now on display at the Delta Flight Museum.[1]

References

External links