I would like to present you my latest model: KLM Dakota PH-TCY. I do understand that this is a diecast forum. But we are all airliner lovers and this is a (custom modified) model of the grandmother of modern air travel.
I hope you like it.
The motivation for this duo build with the Fordson 7V Bowser (from scratch) was a 1948 photo by photographer Paul Huf. Some details might differ from the original picture (I left the cargo door open and the bowser had a ladder attached on the right side).
When I dived into the history of aircraft s/n 9410, I found that it played an essential role in the development of Dutch and Belgian aviation (as PH-TCY, PH-DAC and OO-VDF). It is actually the last Dakota registered to KLM NV and one of the few that has flown operationally from the ‘new’ Schiphol well into the seventies.
The aircraft has fulfilled all tasks that are typical for a Dakota: military transport aircraft in WWII (RAF FD864), luxury passenger aircraft for KLM, bush plane in the East (De Kroonduif) and affordable pioneer for newly established airlines. In the latter role, this plane was one of the first aircraft of what we nowadays know as Brussels Airlines. And as if it was a Tintin album, the plane ended up in a bloody African conflict, where it played a key role during the Congolese Civil War in the mid -90’s. The plane was eventually abandoned at Mbuji Mayi and last spotted in 2008 in deplorable state. It seems to have vanished from Google earth since.
The model is a Revell 1986 issue from original ESCI moulds. The interior details, as well as some external parts, are built from scratch. The right hand engine has no cowling to show you the details of the fine Pratt Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engine.
cheers, VJ
Douglas C-47A, KLM (post-war), 1/72
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