Sad News China Doll Out of Service

[Dan Newcomb]

The flagship of the CAF’s Southern California Wing will not be flying this year. Our C-46 “China Doll” that we have been operating since the mid 1980s will stay parked on the ramp but open for tours.

The Doll is very expensive to operate and we have been loosing money on her for some time now. Her air shows bookings have been down and the wing has done just about everything we can think of to bear this burden but in stepped reality. We will preserve her as best we can and hope to fly her some year in the future.

Several of us spent over ten months a little over a year ago replacing several skins on the airplane. Before we could get that job done sadly, Charlie, her crew chief and WWII veteran died. One of this planes last flights was over his grave.

China Doll was our first airplane and she will always fly on our wing patch.

I remember the day I took these pictures of her arrival at the Minter Field Air Show a few years back. She came in low and before you could see her you could hear her R-2800s. As she made her pass I heard a guy in the crowd say, here comes the CAF! That memory still gives me chills.

[Django]

That's too bad.

[Nathan]

its never gonna fly again?

[the330thbg]

well the certificates be kept up.., just so she wont decay away?

[airknocker]

Is there another CAF C-46 in Midland?

[Second Air Force]

Tinker Belle was still at MAF in November.

Sorry to hear of the situation with China Doll, Dan. I've always had a soft spot for both of these machines.

This is as good a time as any to relate a story I was told at Midland one day. A pair of veterans were walking around Tinker Belle (she was sitting in the middle of the hangar at the time) and I stopped my work for a minute to visit. One of the fellows told me that he and a planeload of budding B-29 airplane commanders were loaded in a C-46 at Pyote so they could go to Clovis for some enhanced training. He noticed that the pilot and copilot (both 2nd Lieutenants) of the C-46 seemed "kinda young". They fired up and taxiied out, did a quick runup and took off. Well, just after the mains broke ground the right engine started backfiring, popping, etc. and seemed ready to come out of the nacelle. They got the airplane back on the ground and everyone in the back unloaded, relieved to still be above room temperature. The passengers all went back to Base Ops to wait for another airplane or head back to the barracks so they could calm down and stop shaking. Shortly thereafter a staff sergeant sticks his head inside Ops and tells them that everything is OK, it was just a little water in the tank. They re-loaded into the same airplane and managed to get to Clovis with less drama, but he told me he never wanted to ride in a C-46 EVER AGAIN!

Scott

[richkolasa]

Hey, rich guys! Someone pony up some funds! This is not acceptable. This is an awesome aircraft. Come on....

Rich

[Dan Newcomb]

We want to keep the Doll on our ramp, as she is a tourist draw. We will continue with necessary structural repairs and keep the engines in good condition by running them. It may be necessary down the road to fly her to Midland to make it easier to control corrosion. I heard a rumor that the CAF’s other C-46 Tinker Bell has been sold. Maybe one of you guys with contacts in Midland can confirm that. Believe me if there is any way possible we will fly her again some day. The sad reality is that after all of her years of service she may die for lack of money. She is terribly expensive to operate and far from glamorous. For her sake I hope we find the money necessary to operate her. Failing that we find her a good home.

Dan

Last edited by Dan Newcomb on Thu Jan 28, 2010 3:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Nathan]

We want to keep the Doll on our ramp, as she is a tourist draw. We will continue with necessary structural repairs and keep the engines in good condition by running them. It may be necessary down the road to fly her to Midland to make it easier to control corrosion. I heard a rumor that the CAF’s other C-46 Tinker Bell has been sold. Maybe one of you guys with contacts in Midland can confirm that. Believe me if there is any way possible we will fly her again some day. The sad reality is that after all of her years of service she may die for lack of money. She is terribly expensive to operate and far from glamorous. For her sake I hope either we find the money necessary to operate her. Failing that we find her a good home.

Dan

Hi Dan,

Any idea how much you guys need to keep her flying? If anything would a donation help? Calling WIXER's...warbird saving time.

Seriously, I'll donate a few dollars.

[Dan Newcomb]

I think she costs something like $1,800.00 an hour to operate. It takes about 3 hours to go to a show 500 miles out. That’s over 10grand round trip. Not too many air shows can afford us at that price. We also estimate that if we want to continue to operate she needs at least 50 grand in maintenance and repair.

I love your spirit Nathan but this is going to take big bucks.

Dan

[bmoran]

I believe the operating cost of a C-46 is ~50% more than that of a C-47/DC-3, hence the fact that Easstern Airliners decided against using them post-war as passenger transporters.

[Warbird Kid]

Was there a ride program in place? Could you potentially utilize the aircraft for what it was designed for, a transport? Aggressively marketing the plane to small companies and possibly to warbird owners and operators that may need parts or equipment from one place to another? Or leasing the plane to a small good-will operation like the group that uses the C-47 thats currently in Haiti?

To see only one Warbird C-46 out there is sad enough. But now to hear that the sole airshow example is now potentially grounded for an undetermined amount of time is just too much. And I'd hate to see this one sold too!

[Django]

That's just it... hardly anyone aside from the folks here give a rat's ass about a C-46 or it's contributions to the war effort.

[bluehawk15]

Dan mentioned that China Doll will remain on their ramp as a visitor draw. If he wasn't just figuratively speaking, and the C-46 is indeed on the ramp and not under cover, there is another problem. CAF regs require all aircraft to be in a hangar. They have been letting some of the larger aircraft "slide" over the years, but an E-mail from CAF HQ OPS just came out saying that everyone has until fall of 2011 to get the aircraft in a hangar. Big airplanes aren't cheap to hangar or fly!

[CAPFlyer]

I would think they'll put the bird in the hangar during the winter like they do now. But when it's nice outside, I don't see why it can't spend time drawing crowds, that's been the staple of the DFW wing for years as well in that they've always kept the R4D outside during the flying season unless really bad weather or maintenance required otherwise.