<p>AMARC, 11 June 1988.
</p><p>A C-47 with an amazing history and... future!
</p><p>859 is a former South Vietnamese Air Force C-47D. It really is! It arrived here in August 1968. The SVNAF had the same star and bars as the USAF, except for the colours. 
It's original serial is 43-48859 (construction number 4675/26120). It flew in the USAAF and French Air Force before it joined the SVNAF.
</p><p>In 1988 the plane was in the reclamation area at Davis Monthan, where aircraft are stored and cannibalized for spare parts.
But then something incredible happened: it was restored to flight in 1992 and converted to Basler BT-67 (A C-47 with turbo engines) with registration N40386. It was even used by USAF special forces at Hurlburt Field AFB until it was sold to a Canadian company in 2007.
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And then suddenly, on 4 January 2009, it all ended when the plane (registration C-GEAJ) crashed in Antarctica and was written off. There were no casualties.
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/109661044@N07">Rob Schleiffert</a> from Holland
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/109661044@N07/25389858551/">C-47D South Vietnamese Air Force</a>