I can't imagine the hardship of restoring (for all practical purposes) that airplane in the Antarctic cold and wind! Amazing.

Cary

They're Canadian. It was probably like a summer vacation for them…

What kind of value would that plane have? That was quite a project!

I believe, and I may be wrong about this, that there would have been a sizable fine for leaving the airplane there, treaty violation of some sort. Must have been cheaper to salvage the airplane out

I think the turbine DC3s have real value and are functional workhorses. Very cool story anyway you look at it.

I bet Halestorm is right about them HAVING to remove the plane or else. It seems like a lot of money when you can buy a DC-3 fairly cheap, pull the engines and radios out of the Basler, and install them in the new plane. I love to see old airplanes fixed up and flying as much as anybody, but there's no way I'd go to Antarctica to fix one. I think most people would consider that a write off.

N300RE wrote:I bet Halestorm is right about them HAVING to remove the plane or else. It seems like a lot of money when you can buy a DC-3 fairly cheap, pull the engines and radios out of the Basler, and install them in the new plane. I love to see old airplanes fixed up and flying as much as anybody, but there's no way I'd go to Antarctica to fix one. I think most people would consider that a write off.

Exactly. I too would bet there's some sort of international treaty that requires removal, and that isn't exactly a helicopter job. A replacement would have been FAR cheaper than what they did.....as in a WHOLE lot cheaper. Basler still converts them.

MTV