Delta Ship 41

Delta Ship 41 is a Douglas DC-3 that flew for Delta Air Lines from January 19, 1941 until 1958.[1]

Delta Ship 41
Delta Ship 41 in Historic Hangar 1
Type Douglas DC-3
Construction number 3278
Manufactured 1940
Registration N28341
Preserved at Delta Flight Museum

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.[2] Delta Air Lines used the airplane for 17 years until 1958.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]

In 2000, Ship 41 won the EAA's AirVenture's Judges' Choice “Lindy” Award for outstanding restoration. In 2001, Ship 41 became the first aircraft to earn a National Trust for Historic Preservation award.

References
  1. "delta41". douglasdc3.com. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  2. "DC-3 Ship 41". deltamuseum.org. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  3. "Pioneering DC-3 celebrates 75th anniversary - Delta News Hub". delta.com. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  4. "Northwest Airlines". www.deltamuseum.org. Retrieved 2019-10-02.
  5. "DC-3 Ship 41". deltamuseum.org. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
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