This planetag is an original piece from a C-54!

This C-54 served in the Navy from 1945 until the mid 1970’s. This is where things get interesting and a bit confusing. Many of these tough birds went on to civilian service, including our C-54. Because of a mix up of a few numbers it was reported lost in the Pacific Ocean at one point. Yet, it appears to have been reregistered as HK-1807 and flown many years as a charter aircraft in Colombia. It is certain, however, that Bill Dempsay  added it to his fleet of fire bombers. Tanker #109 was fitted with a 2,000 gallon belly retardant tank and used for fighting wildfires for USFS and BLM contracts until the mid 1980’s.

Check out my other listings for other historic and rare aircraft relics and planetags / luggage tags.