Ok, this is the deal, I work for a company that has three Basler DC-3Ts, since I’m a history nerd I’ve googled each of them and found out some basics of each, one served with the US air force, one was US Navy and the most recent one served with the RCAF during WWII. So what makes this more interesting is that I was talking with my great uncle over Christmas, he had made photo albums for everyone for Christmas including a picture of him in Burma. I asked him what he was doing there, turns out he was working on RCAF C-47s. So I know as much as Canada had 3 C-47 squadrons, two in Burma, one in England. I was wondering if anyone has any pointers on how to find out more info on this aircraft and what markings it would of had as I’ve been thinking it would be neat to build it then and now (if I can figure a way to do a Basler?)
The plane is sn.12300, C-GVKB, N907Z before that, C-FWTV, CF-WTV, N90HA before that, it served with the RCAF under FZ964 and has number 42-92493 which I think is a US airforce number?
Have you tried this website, you can enter the number and it will give you info on previous owners, current status (if known) etc. The level of detail varies as it is based on how well the history was tracked over the years.
As far as the Basler, Heritage makes a turbo Dakota conversion in 1/72. Not sure if it is the Basler version but if not it could probably at least give you a good start.
I haven’t physically seen this kit, but have bought other stuff from them. They have good service and the resin parts are nice. The shipping from the UK to the US was not nearly as bad as I expected, I expect Canada wouldn’t be any more expensive.
There should be a way to retrace the history of the aircraft through its maintenance records. Basler might have anything previous to the modification as the records were turned over to them when they purchased the airframe, unless it was listed as salvage.
One of the holy grail of DC-3 conversions is an aftermarket set for the BT conversion. There are some who say they are working on one, but we have yet to see it appear. I am waiting too!
The US aiircraft expert, Mr. Joe, at joebaugher.com, shows it going to the RCAF at that serial. Does the RCAF have a historical agency like the USAF does where you might find out more info?
