I have a friend in Australia looking to source some DC-3 parts for his aircraft; any good sources would be helpful. here is what is needed:

Part Number Description Qty
57386 Wheel Assy – Main Wheel DC-3 With drums, bearings and hardware 2
52058 Wheel Assy – Tail Wheel DC-3 1
57584 Brake Assy – Shoe Brake DC-3 Main 4
56459 Brake Shoe and Lining 4
5140764 Dome Installation Assy - Navigator Frame and Dome Glass 1



Thanks for any help you can provide.

Have you tried Trade-A-Plane?

http://www.trade-a-plane.com/about/contact1.html

They are located in Crossville, TN but try getting an old copy maybe from your local FBO.

You can also browse them I guess:
http://www.trade-a-plane.com/classified/parts

Thanks, I do have access to TAP and will keep up with possibilities. I also have a few leads, but the knowledge base here is par excellence.

Thnk you again!

Tried airforce of Zimbabwe? They are selling 8 working and 12 scrap daks. Also, parked outside the DHL offices in Harare is the remains of a dak that has everything you need on it...If you send me a PM I'll look up the DHL boys names (we didn't part on speaking terms....so don't have numbers to hand)

Not that I could afford one, but how much does the Zim AF want for their Dakotas? Are they selling them en masse or individually?

Individually

A mate of mine bought one about 9 years back. Pretty ropey nick. Little plaque commemorating it's first operational sortie- Arnhem 1944. But it started when he hit the buttons and he has made a fortune using it to run shotguns into the congo and take diamonds out . Knowing the lad, I doubt it has seen a C of A since he bought it, and he does all his own servicing. Tells me he has not had a complete engine failure yet (had one partial when a magnito died). Says alot for the dak!

I flew them years ago. Easy airplane to fly and good on one engine. Blew a jug off the right side on the way to Jamaica once and got to spend a night in Cuba. I love the DC-3. Ernie Gann called it "a good natured old cow." In actuality it literally changed the world. It is the first in a long line of dependable commercial transport aircraft.

A good friend of mine who hunts on my ranch and his father were the first to the 1985 Ricky Nelson's DC-3 crash sight just outside of DeKalb, Texas and helped the pilots escape. They were going back in to try to help get others out and the pilot told them, "Get back, they're all dead." Plane burned up, killing Nelson, his fiancee and 5 others, apparently as a result of some problem with the gasoline cabin heater.

Plane landed intact, bounced across a pasture into some smallish trees where it stopped, but with interior on fire, pilot had extreme burns on his arm because he had to reach down into stream of flame to set landing gear, so he told my friend later. Both pilots survived, albeit somewhat cooked, by kicking out cockpit window and escaping that way. Apparently all 7 of the dead were found stacked up against the cockpit door, makes me wonder if they were all dead when they landed, but it's a moot point.

Due to his help, my friend was given the heater in question from the aircraft by the lead lawyer for the Nelsons, etc. It is still in his barn inside a slice of the fuselage. He's indicated he would sell it, I'd like to help him out, but I don't have any idea what it's worth or if anyone would have any real interest since it is kind of a macbre souvenir.

I doubt if Buffalo Joe will sell you anything, but you could try. (he's a hoarder, not a seller!) His website is still kind of interesting. Rumour has it that he has the largest fleet of flying DC-3s in the world...and probably the most round engines, period.

http://www.buffaloairways.com/

A quite a few years back (in the late 60's/ early 70's) he made a forced landing on a frozen lake in the barrens with a Norseman (or maybe a Beaver; it's a long time ago!)...and ate frozen fish & snow for 6 weeks or so before somebody found him. He's done well since.

Joe told me a few years ago that he gets so many people wanting to fly his airplanes that he could probably get crew for free if he pushed it! The people he does have flying are absolutely in love with them, and it shows. It's a kind of an amazing little airline.

p.s. If you want spend a very enjoyable half hour, make sure to browse the Photo Gallery on Buffalos web site!

FWIW there is what looks like a whole DC-3/C-47 parked just North of Hwy 82 about 6 or 7 mi W of Paris, Texas. Been there for years, has some kind of commercial paint job, blue strip around fuselage, blue nacelles, and a circle divided into 3 parts with one part red and two parts blue on tail if anyone knows who that could have been. I don't know if this helps but call # is N255S, drove by it twice going and returning from Ft. Worth today.

Opps, shows what I know. Checked out the call numbers and it's a Martin 404.......here is some info about it......N255S

Hmmmm, it looks like the 404 might be the last aircraft of the (in)famous Junior Burchinal's Flying Tiger Fleet. He died in Jan 2008. I'm not sure who owns the 404 now. It is possible it is being seized for taxes, but that is by no means certain.

Here's a blurb (one of many) about Junior Burchinal (whom I didn't know).....Junior

Made my first solo x counrty to there in the middle 1960's . He had a lot of non flying stuff - straight wing era jets - he did get a B-17 flying for a while. He used to advertise in trade-a-plane- I still got some pictures I took of the place some where