Thanksgiving Spotting with a "Unique" visitor in Gainesville, TX

[NickPeterman]

Greetings All,

There isn't much for two guys to do on Thanksgiving when they don't feel like cooking, so my father and I set out to check out a rare derelict that he and I had learned about a year ago, an Aviation Traders Carvair in Gainesville. The hour plus drive was well worth it when a kind Airport manager took us out to look her over up close and personal. She's quite the old gal, as is the Dc-3 nearby. The Gooney Bird is destined to fly again, but who knows about the Carvair. Time will tell.


Hope you had a wonderful Holiday, and enjoyed the set!

Nick




For those who aren't familiar, the Carvair is a DC-4 that is modified with a new front end to facilitate the loading of cars. It was used to move 5 cars and 25 passengers across the English Channel as an Air-Ferry.

[steve1840]

Wow! Awesome photos! THanks for sharing those with us!

[Zee71]

Nick .... The trip was well worth it to see these.

[MSN007]

Nice catch Nick.

[NickPeterman]

Thank you all! She was well worth the effort indeed. Amazing amount of history behind the 21 Carvairs that were built.

[snydersnapshots]

Very nice! I'm going to have to put that on my "to-do" list. Another interesting old bird is the Martin 404 on what used to be Junior Burchinal's airport just outside of Paris, TX.

[727C47]

I believe my buddy Dick Zerbe owns or has owned that Carvair, it used to appear regularly at KYIP through the mid 00's.

[JHNA57]

Thank you all! She was well worth the effort indeed. Amazing amount of history behind the 21 Carvairs that were built.

Weren't they converted by Freddie Laker in the early 60's??