City of Renton

Air Classics, Feb 2001 by O'Leary, Michael

THROUGH AN INCREDIBLE VOLUNTEER EffORT, THE WORLD'S LAST AIRWORTHY BOEING 247 HAS BEEN COMPLETELY REBUILT AND IS BEING KEPT IN EXCELLENT

FLYING CONDITION

lay back on 26 July 1933, Boeing 247 c/n 1729 NCH 347 was deliverect ad to Pacific Air Transport. Finished in its patch work anodized gray finish, the aircraft was immediately put to work hauling passengers, cargo and mail through the western United States. On I May 1934, the plane was folded into the new United Air Lines and its insignia was accordingly modified. With United, the Boeing flew until mid-1935 when it was returned to Boeing and upgraded to 247-D standards. RetUrning to the airline on 27 August 1935, the transport continued flying with United until 8 February 1937.

By that date, newer and more efficient equipment in the form of the Douglas DC-3 had made the 247 pretty much obsolete on first-line routes. Hc>wi;ever-en, that did not mean a strong secondary market did not exist for the rugged Boeings. In earlv 19?37, ten 247-- Ds were purchased from United by PennsylvaniaCentral Airlines. Rapidly put into service. the aircraft replaced Stinson As and Boeing 247s formerly used by Central Airlines and Pennsylvania Airlines. PCA's new maintenance base and operations headquarters was located at Pittsburgh's Allegheny County Airport. The new planes were utilized on the company's Washington-Milwaukee route and NC13347, wearing its new company colors, was soon operating on this route and stops in-between.

It is not known on exactly what date NC13347 stopped operating with PCA but in 1940 the aircraft was obtained by the Canadian Department of Munitions and received the temporary Canadian civil license of CF-- BTD. At this point, Canada was at war with Nazi Germany and the country, along with rest of the Commonwealth, was scrambling to get aircraft. CF-BTD was rapidly transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force where it wore serial 7839. One of several 247s flying with the RCAF, the aircraft soldiered on until 17 December 1941 when it was sold by the government to Maritime Central Airways.

Registered CF-BTB, the Boeing operated with the Canadian company until 1945 when it went south to join the little-known Columbia Airlines. Its registration reverted to NC13347 and, at that time, the plane had Logged 16,211 flight hours. Operating with Columbia until June 1951, the aircraft's next stop was Latin America. Always a home for aging prop transports, the 247 began operations with Aerovias Occidentales of San Jose, Costa Rica. Receiving the registration TI-1011, the plane continued its duties until 3 January 1952. On that date, a jammed throttle caused the airliner to go up on its nose and it remained grounded for about two years. Repairs were taken on a local level, resulting in a somewhat non-standard nose contour. The plane was then retrieved by Jesse Bristow who was instrumental in returning a number of well-worn 247s from Latin America to the United States during this period. Bristow was a well-known prewar aerobatic pilot operating out of Florida and he had many contacts in Latin America.

Wearing the new registration N3977C, the aircraft received further work and a new Cortez Gray and Mariner Blue paint scheme. Purchased by Marrs Aircraft of Hollywood, Florida, the plane was flown to Phoenix, Arizona, for the next stage in its career. The aircraft's interior was removed and chemical tanks were installed along with spray bars on the trailing edges of the wings. Purchased by ag operator Marsh Aircraft in December 1954, the plane went to work crop spraying. It did not last overly long in this job and was winging its way west on 1 October 1956 for new owner Precipitation Control of Taft, California. In this mission, the Boeing was used to seed clouds in order to create rain. However, it suffered a wheels-up landing accident. Once again repaired, the 247-D received a yellow and white paint scheme but by 1961 it was derelict at the small Taft airport.

The future did not look good for the 247-D and it probably would have been scrapped if not for the efforts of United Air Lines pilot Jack Leffler. Leffler was a member of the Pacific Northwest Aviation Historical Foundation (PNAHF - which would eventually become the dynamic Museum of Flight) and had been instrumental in saving the hulk of a Boeing 80-A biplane tri-motor in Alaska and getting it back to the PNAHF (it is now beautifully restored and on static display at the Museum of Flight). With the financial assistance of fellow member Ray Pepka, the plane was purchased in 1966 from D.D. Merrill for $10,000. Now the only problem which remained was getting the Boeing back to the Seattle area.

Numerous repairs were made including covering the broken passenger windows with plywood and a ferry permit (lasting a duration of ten days) was obtained on 26 February 1966. Not trusting the landing gear, the pair flew the patched airliner the 1000 miles back to Renton at about 120 mph with the gear firmly down.

Once at Renton, PNAHF volunteers began what they thought would be the easy task of stripping off the old paint. They purchased five gallons of paint remover from the local hardware store and went to work. It was not as easy as they thought. Fortunately, the DuBois Chemical Company came to the rescue with the donation of a small fortune of paint remover. During stripping, the volunteers discovered layers of history, dating back through the 1951 Costa Rican color scheme and even impressions of the 1937 markings of PCA. The Andrew Brown Company mixed special gray paint to simulate the original anodized finish. B.F. Goodrich supplied new tires. United Air Lines supplied VHF radio equipment and PNAHF had the 247,13 ready, barely, for the 1966 Renton Airshow (which was also the 50th anniversary of Boeing).