Service record of a US Army aircraft

[Dave Hadfield]

Hi,

I'd like to find out the details of the service record of the Beaver that Mike P. just bought at Vintage Wings. It's ex-US Army. This website, which I can't vouch for but seems comprehensive, has some details http://www.dhc-2.com/cn336.html

Of course, what I'd be delighted to find is that it served in Vietnam.

I'm having no luck with an internet search. Can anyone please point me in the right direction?

Thanks, Dave

[JohnB]

The http://WWW.dhc-2.com website is first rate. For those of you who haven't been there, it has the history and photos on virtually EVERY Beaver airframe produced. It correlates c/n, military serials and civil registrations.
As in this case, many begin with US military service. Some aircraft, like this one, have sketchy military service details, others...namely USAF Beavers...are more detailed. The few airframes that have no history are exports or some military aircraft with probably had short lives.

I've forwarded several photos I've found in books on Air Force aircraft, and forwarded photos of a friend's beautifully refurbished Beaver when he had one. In fact, if you ever see an interesting ship, get its photo and forward it to the site, it will be appreciated. Likewise if you have or come across shots of Beavers in U.S. military service, forward them, you might have a shot of one of the "missing" airframes.

The same gentleman has a similar site on the Twin Otters. The histories of those are listed including the newly built ones by Viking.

[Rajay]

Baugher's military serial numbers site is usually a good resource too, but not so much in this case. Using the search interface here:

http://cgibin.rcn.com/jeremy.k/cgi-bin/gzUsafSearch.pl?target=51-16818&content=

I found that it has only this bare bones info:

"16818 (msn 336/1145) delivered Aug 19, 1952. To MASDC Apr 6, 1973. Registered N43886 to Department of Agriculture, Mission, Texas Oct 1979, later to Wipaire Inc. To (Canada as) C-FRBB. Registered C-GFRN in Jul 2009."

By comparison the DHC-2 site had a lot more as I'm sure you already saw - but reproduced here for reference and for the benefit of others who may be interested:

c/n 336
51-16818 • N43886 • C-FRBB
C-GFRN

51-16818 US Army #1145. L-20A No: 146. Command A-2. Delivered 19-Aug-1952. Built as L-20A and re-designated U-6A in 1962.

51-16818 Louisiana National Guard.

51-16818 Stored at MASDC., Davis Monthan AFB., AZ. 06-Apr-1973 to 19-Nov-1976. Inventory Code UD036.

N43886 City of Houston Civil Defense, Houston, TX. Regd Jun-1979.

N43886 Department of Agriculture, Mission, TX. Dates unknown.

N43886 Wipaire Inc., South Saint Paul, MN. Regd 16-Nov.1987. Canx 05-Mar-1991.

C-FRBB Van Allen Aviation Inc., Westmount, QC. Regd. 28-May-1991.

C-FRBB Van Allen Aviation Inc., Calgary, AB. Change of Address 28-Nov-1991. Canx 02-Jun-2006.
Accident: Cornwall, ON.11-Sep-2001. The aircraft arrived at the Cornwall Regional Airport (CYCC) on a VFR flight from an unknown origin. The aircraft (equipped with amphib floats) landed with the landing gear retracted on runway. CADORS 2001O1049

C-FRBB Roger Baikie, Dundee, QC. Regd date unknown. Not on CCAR.
Total time: 7,894hr at 2005

C-FRBB Gary L. Redhead Holdings Ltd., Lloydminster, AB. Regd 12-Jun-2006.Regd 22-Jun-2009 at Regina, SK. Based Lloydminster, AB.

Mods include: Wipline 6000 amphib. floats, Wipline cabin extension with double rect. windows, domed passenger door window, tip tanks and Baron STOL wing mods. Three blade Hartzell prop.

Color Scheme: In 2006 overall white with green engine and fuselage cheat line, tapering to rear, wing leading edge and tail fin all with gold trim.
Note: For sale at Campbell River, Feb-2008 for $500K US. Total time: 8,000 hrs.

C-FRBB Irving Oil Transport, St John, NB. Regd & Canx 08-JuL-2009.

C-GFRN Irving Oil Transport Inc., St John, NB. Regd 08-Jul-2009. Canx 08-Jul-2009. Regd 08-Jul-2009. Canx 09-Sep-2014. Regd 22-Apr-2015. Canx 24-Aug-2016.

Note: Interior refurbished 2010.
Total time: since new 8,544 hrs.

Added mods Viking 5600 gross weight increase. Lifetime wing struts. Viking quick egress windows, Wipaire skylights. Wipaire battery forward. Wipaire electric fuel boost pump and Alternator. EDO 4580 amphibious floats by Sealand. Lake and Air advisory system for amphibious floats. Kenmore stabilizer fins.

Note: Unclear as to when these mods were added.

C-GFRX Irving Oil Transport Inc., St. John, NB. Regd 24-Aug-2016. Canx 25-Aug-2016.

C-GFRX Galloway Aviation Ltd., St. John, NB. Regd 25-Aug-2016.

C-GFRX 6565441 Canada Inc., (Vintage Wings), Ottawa, ON • Regd 15-Feb-2016

Based CYND - Gatineau, QC.

Last edited by Rajay on Sun Mar 19, 2017 1:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[AG pilot]

Wow! That is a pretty clear history.

[SIDSIKO]

Hi Dave,

Getting unit allocations for any US Army aircraft, can prove to be a very difficult process, as opposed to the USAF and USN, who have the aircraft history cards freely available.

The only records held by the US Army are from 1962 onwards and are not very user friendly. The list by the 15th of each month of service, the unit operating that individual serial number, but the unit is only listed by a UIC (Unit Identification Code).

You will have to submit a FOIA request for the DA Form 1352 report, for the military serial number you are looking for.

https://foia.redstone.army.mil/

Keep you fingers crossed and prepare for a wait!

[Dave Hadfield]

Thanks for the replies!

Of course the only record I'm interested in is the period for which there is no data on that list -- 1962-1973 -- because that's the period it might have been in Vietnam.

I'll follow up with Redstone.

Cheers,

Dave

[quemerford]

Dave,

As Sidsiko suggests, an FOIA request is probably the best route and can pay dividends.

I'd be wary of much that is on the internet: often minimal detail is plagiarised and mistakes made, then re-plagiarised into fact. And despite what many people seem to think, everything is not on the internet - far from it. But proper research is often much more rewarding than doing a Google search.

Best of luck in the quest!