Tag Archives: Basler

Basler BT-67

Making a cross country flight from Wisconsin to Washington is a long enough trip but it is even longer if you are in something that isn’t too speedy.  A DC-3 is not something that is going to cover the ground that fast.  It will be a bit quicker if it has been re-engined with a turboprop but, even then, it is going to be a long trip.  I think it was the best part of eight hours to make the journey and then overnight at Seattle before continuing on to Alaska the next day.

The arrival of the BT-67 certainly got the attention of a few local photographers.  Sadly, things got a bit cloudy just as it arrived so the conditions were not ideal.  It was still cool to get a shot, of course.  Fortunately, they had parked near the Museum of Flight so I was able to get a few shots of them parked up.  The crew were just closing up so the gate to the ramp was open for them and a kind security guard allowed me to shoot past him without having to deal with the fence.

A Turbo DC-3 From Oshkosh

My cloudy Sunday afternoon included a bonus visitor.  I saw that a turbo DC-3 was heading this way.  Initial estimates had it coming in quite late but they were making good progress and would be in while I was there.  The turboprop conversion means a better cruise speed on a long cross country and, since this flight was direct from Oshkosh, it was a pretty long trip.

I have shot plenty of DC-3s over the years but I don’t think too many of them have been turbine conversions.  This was a nice surprise.  It didn’t hurt that the weather was steadily improving during the afternoon and a hint of sun was showing up by the time it arrived.  That hint wasn’t quite as strong as I would have liked but it was okay.  I also got to see it on the ramp when it parked up near the Museum of Flight.  I think Basler has a base at Oshkosh and, since they do the conversions of DC-3s to turbine power (along with a small fuselage stretch I think), I guess this must be one of theirs.