Subject to change (inclement weather), the Dawson Community Airport will be having its open house celebrating your new terminal building on Saturday, September 10 at 11:00 a.m. Lunch will follow at noon, courtesy of Cape Air. Anyone interested is encouraged to attend.
Again, subject to change, “Miss Montana,” a Douglas DC-3 owned and operated by the Museum of Mountain Flying in Missoula, will land in Glendive on the afternoon of Friday, September 9. She will remain overnight, and depart late morning or midday on Saturday. The airplane will be available to the public for cockpit tours and her crew will be available to answer any questions about her 78 year (and counting) career. “Miss Montana” souvenirs and merchandise will be available for purchase as well.
To give a brief abbreviated description of her history, “Miss Montana” was manufactured in 1944 by the Douglas Aircraft Company as a C-47 for the U.S. military. She remained stateside during World War II, and was re-designated a DC-3–registration number NC24320–upon her retirement from military service. The legendary Johnson Flying Service of Missoula later acquired the airplane. NC24320/“Miss Montana” was the same airplane that dropped 15 smokejumpers on the infamous Mann Gulch Fire on August 5, 1949, of which 13 men perished when they were overrun by the fire. “Miss Montana” was flown to France back in June 2019 to help commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day: The Invasion of Normandy.
A timeless, immortal, durable, forgiving, all-around tough airplane, the Douglas DC-3 has proven herself for 85 years now. She has served in the military, with the airlines, operated as a freighter, air tanker, large acreage sprayer, and many other roles and applications within the aviation industry across the globe. The DC-3 is probably the most diversified flying machine that has ever existed, or will ever exist.
Tanker 05 will be towed onto the main ramp, right alongside “Miss Montana” and will be available for cockpit tours as well. Ironically, the avionics that were once in Tanker 05 were donated by Neptune Aviation for installation in “Miss Montana”. Both airplanes have deep roots in Montana aviation history. Speaking for myself, it will be an honor to see them parked together.
More updates to follow as the date nears…..
Craig Stebbins