SAVING HISTORY: RESURRECTION OF DOUGLAS DC-7B N836D

Air Classics, Dec 2004 by Pettersen, Ralph M

Another exciting classic airliner restoration has been underway at St. Paul, Minnesota, since mid-May 2004. Carlos Gomez and a group of volunteers have been hard at work bringing ex-Eastern Air Lines DC-7B N836D back from the dead. Many skeptics had written this aircraft off because it hadn't flown since 1972 but Carlos proved them all wrong. On Saturday, 7 August 2004, at 2:52 pm CDT, the old girl took to the air for the first time in 32 years and headed south towards Georgia where, after an uneventful four-hr flight, she landed at Atlanta's Dekalb-Peachtree Airport (PDK).

DC-7B N836D (c/n 45345) was delivered to Eastern Air Lines on 23 January 1958. The reign of Eastern's 50-aircraft strong DC-7B fleet was cut short due to the advent of the jet age, with the last aircraft being retired in October 1966. Most went to California Airmotive, which bought N836D in September 1965. Nomads, Inc., a Detroit-based travel club bought the aircraft in 1966 but by 1971 it had been replaced by a Lockheed Electra and was parked at Detroit's Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) awaiting sale.

Joe Kocour, a St. Paul native, founded the Twentieth Century Travel Club and purchased N836D in 1972 with the intent of operating the travel club out of his hometown. Operations never began and the aircraft remained parked at St. Paul Downtown Holman Field (STP) where, until the mid-1990s, Joe faithfully ran up the engines and taxied the aircraft around the field. Although it has been widely reported that the aircraft had been partially submerged during flooding of the field, Joe was always one step ahead of the floods and moved the aircraft to higher ground.

Carlos Gomez is the owner of Florida Air Transport, which operates a DC-6 and DC-7 out of St. Lucie Airport in Fort Pierce, Florida. He and his chief pilot, Frank Moss, had been toying with the idea of restoring a DC-6 or DC-7 for the airshow circuit for quite some time. They knew about the DC-7B in St. Paul and Frank had a number of telephone conversations with Joe about the aircraft and whether or not it was for sale. What made this aircraft so attractive to Carlos was that it is the only surviving DC-7 with its original passenger interior intact.

In November 2003, Carlos called Joe to arrange a meeting in St. Paul to inspect the aircraft. Joe had been negotiating with a group headed by Bill Hirsch of Eastern Air Lines and Doug Scroggins of the Lost Birds Aviation Museum and was somewhat reluctant to meet with Carlos. Joe finally agreed to the meeting in November 2003 and Carlos was on a plane to St. Paul shortly thereafter. After spending a few hours on a very cold airport ramp inspecting the DC-7B, Carlos made Joe an offer on the spot. Later that day, they reached agreement and shook hands on a deal, which was formalized the next day.

Carlos now had his airplane and a few weeks later he and Marc Wolff formed Legendary Airliners LLC. One of the first persons they contacted was Bill Hirsch of Eastern Air Lines (yes, Eastern still exists as a corporation) to gain his support for the project and to join forces with a number of Eastern retiree organizations. Bill was quick to sign up and an alliance was formed between the groups with the goal of restoring N836D to her former glory, including a 1958 Eastern duckhawk paint scheme.

The restoration would have to wait for the end of the cold Minnesota winter and arrival of warmer weather. On 22 May 2004 Carlos and a crew, including his father Martin and Marc's father-in-law Larry Breuner, departed Miami for St. Paul. Following them was a 53-ft trailer with parts and tools for the restoration. The first order of business was to carefully inspect the aircraft and prepare a plan of action. The inspection confirmed what Carlos had determined on his inspection hack in November: The aircraft was essentially sound hut needed quite a bit of TLC before the flight to Florida could he undertaken.

When Carlos first told his mother of his plan hack in November, she looked at him with disbelief. An important part of his plan was finding sponsors willing to donate money and material and volunteers willing to donate their time. She had a hard time believing this would ever happen but Carlos was right on target. As word of the venture got out, volunteers began showing up at the work-site offering their help. A number of out-of-town mechanics traveled to St. Paul from as far away as Tulsa, Oklahoma, to help out. Juan Robbin of Skymart Sales donated oil and lubricants for the project; Michelin donated new tires; Roger and Betsy Jarman of Atlantic Models have actively supported the project; and Hubbard Communications, owners of Minneapolis, St. Paul, TV Channel 5, donated $2500. The project was underway in a big way!

After removing years of accumulated bird nests, the engines were successfully run at low-power settings during the week of 13 June. Over the next few weeks, they were run at progressively higher power settings with no unexpected problems occurring - hard to believe from engines that hadn't been flown in over 30 years! All fuel lines, oil lines, and fuel injection pumps were replaced. Control cables were lubricated and those that couldn't be salvaged were replaced. The previous reports of massive main spar corrosion proved to be untrue but the group did find that the outer wing panels had some corrosion. This was not unexpected and Carlos has located two new wing panels, which will be installed in Florida. The rudder was replaced with one that Joe Kocour donated and, by the third week of June, the project was definitely coming together.