Hello Fellows,
I received the attached message from Russ Farris, an airline captain and writer, who's interested in writing an article 
about the "suicidal"DC3, N65276, that clipped the mountain in 1957.  You may recall we have a magazine clipping about 
Dale Wellings' adventure posted on the website.  Russ is at RussF@prodigy.net if you want to share any info with him.  
I'd appreciate a copy too.  That incident has always intrigued me.  And, EP, I have you copied in since you were on the 
"suicidal" 3 with Challenger at SLC when it went off the runway.
Thanks,
-Jake Lamkins
(8/7/99)

Hello Jake, my name is Russ Farris and I am an aviation writer (and USAirways 737 Captain) interested in writing an 
article for "Airliners" magazine about the Frontier DC-3 that lost part of it's left wing near PHX, as posted on your
web site. I have been aware of this near accident for many years, but the PM
article had a lot more detail about what happened and got me thinking about
what a great story this would make. I understand
that Captain Welling is no longer with us, but would you have any idea howto find F/O
Wrasse, or  F/A Bailey? Anyone with first hand knowledge would be terrific.
Any thoughts you might have would be greatly appreciated. I still fly a DC-3
for a museum here in North Carolina restored in Piedmont colors, so I can
understand to some degree what the crew went through. Thanks again for any help you can offer! Regards, Russ Farris>
P.S. Many former FAL people work here at US Airways, and they are fine
individuals indeed. As a kid I flew on Frontier 580's and 737's, and
remember talking to the crew of a FAL DC-3 at Scottsbluff in 1967! I always
wanted to fly for Frontier, but fate decided Piedmont (another great airline) was my destiny. At least the name lives on!
-Russ Farris
(8/7/99)

I uploaded a shot I have of N-65276 in front of the PHX terminal. I should mention that I referred to it as "Suicidal" as 
it had been involved in THREE accidents at its demise December 21, 1967.

The first time it crashed was in SLC as a Challenger airplane with Bill McChrystal as captain and EP Lietz as the f/o. 
They were on an emergency approach with a medical trauma in progress. The weather was lousy and as they landed the wind 
changed and it was a slick runway. They ran off the end and hit a car. The only injury was a lady in the car.

Later, Dale Welling knocked 12 feet of the left wing off on a hill north of PHX when he was skud running inbound from 
Prescott (PRC).

The last was when Rocky Crane and Rick Cochran were killed and the aircraft destroyed on take-off December 21, 1967. 
The seats had been removed to use the aircraft to relieve a heavy back up of cargo. FAL was not approved for this. It 
was a blustry day and someone improperly installed a rudder lock on the elevator (allowing some control movement). Then 
on lift off, a heavy 55 gallon drum of paint broke loose and headed for the tail end. The change of center of gravity 
coupled with the loss of full elevator control prevented the rew from saving the airplane. They had, apprarently, quickly, 
realized this as they repositioned the trim in the opposite of normal trim to get the nose of the aircraft down. Alas, it 
was not enough. The airplane stalled, crashed and burned. 

The second crash was 12-21-67 in DEN. The captain of N-65276 was Rocky Crane, the f/o was Rick Cochran. Rick was the twin 
brother of Captain Dick Cochran who retired as a senior MD-80 captain. Dick lives in DEN. They were the son's of a pioneer 
pilot who was involved with Lowry AFB in its early years. He was also a pioneer aerial photographer. I have several of his 
photos showing a lot of early Curtiss fighters, and various other aircraft like the Sikorski S-38, Fokker F-3, Stout 
predecessor of the Ford Tri-Motor and even a dirgible. Losing Rick was tough on that family!
-Billy Walker
(1/23/99)

Interestingly enough. . . it was 65276 that had the SLC incident (with Bill McChrystal & EP Lietz): 
It was 65276 that Langhofer had the accident at PUB (1954); 
It was 65276 that Bob Nicholson had an incident in CYS; 
It was 65276 that Welling (Gone West) and Burt Wrasse ('don't know if he wants to be contacted, I'll check with him first) 
that had the incident in PHX and,
interestingly enough, it was 65276 that Rocky Crane and Rick Cochran had the accident in DEN that destroyed the airplane.
Just FYI
-Ace Avakian
(8/8/99)

Ken Shultz reports that the 1954 PUB incident was a different aircraft.  See his memo below.
-Jake Lamkins
(8/14/99)

Hi Jake,
 Some stuff on that accident that may not be readily available. I was Council Chairman of FAL Council 100 when 
this happened. I was returning from a flight to ABQ when I got word of this. I sat in on
all of the formal hearings and also went to the crash sight with DaleWelling and Elmer Burson.  Dale was on the last leg of a flight to Farmington and return to
PHX. He landed at Prescott and there decided that he could fly from  Prescott to Phoenix VFR. The weather between PHX and Prescott was
mighty marginal. He cancelled his IFR clearance and started down the highway from Prescott to Phoenix. He was at a pretty low altitude in
order to stay VFR. About half way to PHX it became VERY apparent that he was NOT going to be able to stay VFR so he called for an IFR
clearance from present position to the marker just north of PHX on the range station there. Of course he started to climb on course to the
marker before he even received the clearance. If I remember this correctly he did eventually get the IFR clearance from ATC but he was on
instruments before he received this.  The airplane just could NOT get high enough to clear all of the
terrain before he got to the mountain he hit. My nearly 80 year old mind is having a problem remembering which wing he hit the top of this
mountain with. Anyway they hit one side of the mountain, bounced over the top and down into a ravine, ALL OF THIS WHILE ON INSTRUMENTS. It
tore the wing completely off right at the landing light. This meant there was actually only a stub of the wing remaining. If you look at a
photo of a DC-3 you will readily notice that almost three quarters of the wing was gone. The fact that the airplane kept flying is a real
tribute to the engineering skills of Douglas. They flew down this ravine, on instruments, not even realizing where they were. Just a very
minor change in heading would have flown then right into the side of the ravine. They came out of it over some flat land and became VFR. Dale
then flew it to PHX and landed.  A few days later Elmer Burson, who was Chief Pilot then, got a four place Cessna and flew himself, Dale and myself up to the crash site. I
was in the back seat, Elmer flew the airplane and Dale sat in the right seat beside him. Dale directed us right to the site. Elmer flew around
the mountain. On the north west side of the peak you could actually see where the airplane had hit. On the south east side of the peak the wing
was laying there plainly visible. Given the remote location of the site  I'll bet a buck it is still laying there. The ravine they dropped into
was also noticeable. Elmer made one complete turn over the site. In just a few minutes it dawned on Dale just how VERY close to death he had
come. He turned white, leaned over and puked all over the cockpit floor.
 Shortly after this happened I believe it was Senator Goldwater presented Dale with a gold watch and a commendation for getting the
airplane on the ground in that condition. Then everyone got to thinking about it and the next thing was a complete FAA investigation.
I do believe that they condemned Dale for his actions up to the accident
but I do not believe anything was done to him. He kept on with his career and retired at age 60.
 As I remember Dale originally tried to pass off the loss of the wing to turbulence. However the cactus needles sticking in the leading
edge of the stub of wing left made it obvious it had actually run into something. Later the copilot admitted they had hit the mountain. I
know his name better than I know my own but it just won't pop into my mind right now. OOPs just popped up, Bert Wrasse.
 It has been 42 years since that happened. Many of the ones around then have passed away.
I haven't even thought about it for a very long time.
 Hope you and yours are well and happy. Warm Regards from EP
-EP Lietz
(8/8/99)

Hi Jake,
 Another story. Regarding the Challenger DC-3 that ran off the runway at SLC. The Captain was Bill McCrystal. I was about a 2nd year
copilot and not too long after that I checked out as a Captain myself.  We were on the last leg of a flight into SLC from either Denver or
Billings, don't remember which. The weather at Salt Lake was horrible.  We were holding on one leg of the Ogden radio range waiting to see if
the weather might come up to minimums before we had to proceed to an alternate. It was night, snowing, the whole nine yards. The stewardess
came up into the cockpit, leaned over Bill and put her hand on the arm rest of his seat. She said one of the passengers was sick. I noticed
that her hand was jerking and she had trouble holding onto the arm rest. I got the distinct impression that something was seriously
wrong. I told Bill I would go back and see what the problem was. I opened the door to the cabin and immediately got a shock. Several other
passengers aided by one of our ground people had this guy across two seats holding an oxygen mask to his face. What I could see of his face
was very black. He was kicking his legs and jerking his whole body around. I went back up to the cockpit and told Bill that this guy was
in serious trouble. Bill called the company and they agreed to let him try an instrument approach into SLC. Of course the weather was below
our legal minimums but Bill declared an emergency. We went ahead and made the approach. We were landing south on the north south runway.
Bill broke out below the clouds just a few feet to the left of the left side of the runway. I could see it but Bill apparently couldn't. I
told him to turn slightly right and then he picked it up. He put it on the ground about half way down the runway. NOW just before we touched
down the wind changed from CALM to about 35 knots on our tail directly out of the north. Add to that the runway was covered with ice. There
was no way Bill could have stopped that thing.  We slid all of the way to the end, hit the boundary fence and tore
about a mile of it out of the frozen ground, posts and all. There was a guy in a DeSoto car driving east on the highway. Our left wheel hit him
right in the center. We then slid, car, airplane and all across the highway and into the field with one wing almost touching the approach
lights at that end of the runway. Just before we hit Bill reached up and turned off all of the cockpit switches. He didn't want a fire. We
came to a screeching halt and both of us just sat there. Then Bill reached up to turn on the switches again. He was going to call the
company on the radio. I stopped him from doing that. Then he remarked, "There went a promising career."
 OK, no one on the airplane was hurt. The four people in the car were severely injured. The company had an ambulance standing by to take
care of the sick passenger. It turned out that the passenger was having an epileptic fit. Nothing anyone could have done for him at that time.
Actually he had recovered when we hit, got off the airplane and climbed onto a bus. They never even found him for several days after that. It
also turned out that we had a registered nurse aboard. She knew what the problem with this guy was but said nothing. At the hearing she said
she was not a doctor and did not feel it was her responsibility to diagnose anything. The ambulance picked up the injured people in the
car and got them to the hospital very quickly.
 The very last incident I vividly recall is this. The airplane was standing almost on its nose with the tail in the air. The left gear was
gone. My overcoat was hanging on a wrack in the tail. I needed that overcoat. It was colder than a mother-in-law's kiss out there. So I
climbed the seats just like a ladder. When I got up there the stewardess was standing there behind the last seat crying her head off.
Her name was Batsine Frazier, we called her Batsy. I put my arm around her and convinced her no one was hurt, everything was OK, got her to
stop crying and then put on my coat. I helped her back toward the cockpit. The only way off that airplane was out of the small door
behind the captain's seat. She got out that door and stood on the ground. Just then some JERK said, "My God, you killed everyone in that
car." This just wasn't so but poor Batsy did a little jerking around herself and passed completely out. They got her to a hospital. She
stayed there for a couple of days. Then she quit her job and rode a bus back to Denver. I doubt if she ever got on another airplane.
 Of course hearings and legal procedures continued for the next two or three years. Actually the tower had a major part in all of this. A
cold front was just passing through, the runway was covered with ice and we actually had about a 40 knot tailwind. The tower NEVER gave us any
of this information. The last word we got was that the runway was OK and the wind was calm. Had that been the case the accident would never
have happened. If that cottin pickin nurse had told us the guy was an epileptic it never would have happened. Such is life.
 OK That is just exactly as I remember it. As they say in Texas
Y'all take care, y'heah!! EP
-EP Lietz
(8/8/99)

Yes Jake,
Back in the early Challenger days Captain Bob Nicholson and 1st Officer
Jack Schade were flying a trip through CYS in 276. Jack was flying I
believe. Actually my account of this is hearsay. I never did get any
first hand account of this. Anyway the runway had ice on it. The
Captain became apprehensive about something and applied brakes. The
airplane slid for a short distance and then hit a patch of dry
concrete. Good old 276 wound up on its nose then. As far as PUB is
concerned I know nothing about that. It was a good airplane and no
reason for it to have had all of these problems. It surely wasn't the
airplane's fault. Rocky Crane finally stopped all of that. He took off
at DEN with the controls locked. The airplane was a total loss along
with killing Rocky and his copilot. For all of that the airline did
pretty well. In all of those years they only killed one passenger. Of
course that is one too many but when you look at United, American, Delta
and some of the others the record is fantastic.
 By the way I think it is really commendable the way you are keeping
the history of this airline alive. I thank you and I am sure everyone
else does also. EP
-EP Lietz
(8/8/99)

Thanks, Eldon, for the insight into Dale's accident.
Do recall any of the details when you and McChystal ran the same
aircraft off the runway at SLC when yall were with Challenger.
Ace Avakian said there had been incidents with that same aircraft at PUB and CYS too.  Do you have any info on them.
Thanks again, you're a gold mine of information.  You ought to write a book like Tex Searle did.
-Jake Lamkins
(8/8/99)

That was even better'n the last time you gave me the story, more
detailed. One addendum: I got from Jack Schade who got to the aircraft
and saw Bill still sitting in the left seat filling out the log book.
Jack suggested he forget the log and get off the airplane! Knowing Bill
McChystal as meticulous as he was, that didn't surprise me any. I saw
his log books for the DC-3 honor he won (Jack Schade and I coerced him
into entering the foray as Bill was shy and reticent about that).
Anyway, his log books were a work of art with penmanship and neatness in
addition to being totally accurate. He was wonderful to fly with, always the gentleman. I miss him.
Sincaeronautically,
-Billy Walker
(8/8/99)

Yep Billy, McCrystal was a really fine gentleman. Yeah, before we hit
that fence he very meticulously went throught the cockpit turning off
everything. After we got through sliding he just sat there for a minute
and then started turning everything back on again. He originally turned
the switches off in case of a fuel leak. Then he starts to turn them
back on. I grabbed his hand and stopped him. He was going to call the
company and tell them we had arrived. He thought for a minute and then
agreed that they had better stay off.
 I guess even today I am bitter about that accident. Scott Keller
managed to make the whole thing look like it was my fault. He claimed I
had reached across the cockpit and set the Captain's altimeter wrong.
Of course Doug MacDonald had gone out there directly after the accident
and photographed the instrument panel and the cockpit. Everything was
OK including the altimeter setting. A copilot DID NOT SET THE CAPTAIN'S
ALTIMETER. The captain did that. My short arms couldn't have reached
it anyway. Well in the end all I got was a month off without pay. In
the long run it didn't hurt me any. Actually there wasn't any evidence
that either one of us did anything wrong. I know for sure that I would
have hated to be in Bill's position. The weather was below minimums,
the passenger looked to me like he was dying. I am glad I did not have
to make the decision Bill had to make. Of course Bill would never have
let anybody die if he could help it so in we went. Bill did land a
little far down the runway but given the conditions as we were told they
were that would have been OK. He could have made it with room to
spare. Considering just how really bad the weather was that night I
think he did a damned fine job even finding the airport. I can still
sit here and picture that runway just as it looked to me that night when
we broke out of the clouds. That was not one of my more fun nights. I
also can still see that old DeSoto driving down the highway and passing
directly under my copilot seat. I don't think that poor devil even knew
what hit him. He is driving down a highway in a snowstorm. Blooey, out
of the snow and dark comes an airplane and runs over him. I'll bet he
never forgot that either. There were four people in that car. All of
them were hurt. One of them had a broken pelvis. However they all
lived and recovered to live a normal life. They actually were in a
hospital less than a half hour after the accident. I guess they were on
their way to the hospital before I even got out of the airplane.
 Say, these memories just keep coming back don't they? Y'all take
care, Y'heah!" EP
-EP Lietz
(8/8/99)

You're right, my friend.  It was N65276 in both incidents.
There were 3 that I know of for sure:SLC, PHX, DEN(the last one because it burned after crashing in Dec67).  Now, Ace 
has said there was something that happened in PUB and CYS with that same aircraft.  Thanks a ton for the SLC story.  
That was one hell of a night.  It's a wonder you and Bill didn't give up flying like Batsy did.
-Jake Lamkins
(8/8/99)

Hi Mr. Farris,
This format of the chronology of events are compliments of Captain Ace
Avakian: Interestingly enough. . . it was N-65276 that had the,
Challenger Airways (pre-Frontier) SLC incident (the pilots were Bill
McChrystal & EP Lietz): It was, according to Ace, 65276 that Jim
Langhofer and Don had the accident on takeoff at PUB (1954). However,
there is a possibility the N number for that accident was 64424; It was
65276 that Bob Nicholson and Jack Schade had an incident in CYS where
they did (what Douglas said was impossible) and parked it on its nose;
It was 65276 that, the late Dale Welling, and Burt Wrasse lost
approximately 12 feet of the left wing north of Phoenix when they flew
into a "stuffed cloud" and, interestingly enough, it was 65276 that
Rocky Crane and Rick Cochran had their fatal accident in DEN that
destroyed the airplane Christmas eve of 1967.

As to the controversy as to which wing was damaged, it definitely was
the left wing. The photo shows it fragmented just outside the last
number "6" of the N-65276 painted on the bottom wing.

I wonder what interesting occurrances happened to this airplane BEFORE
Frontier (Challenger Airways) began flying it in 1946. N-65276
(SN-19202) was manufactured, I believe, in 1943 as a C-47.

If you copy the picture onto a disk in JPEG format and take it to
Kinko's or a similar establishment, they should be able to re-produce a
photo quality picture for you. I have an Epson Stylus 800 printer that
does 1440 dpi photo quality prints. The paper is kinda expensive and it
burns a lot of ink at that setting. But, if you have access to that
type of printer it gives you another option.

I have most of the post accident glossy pictures here. We need to have
some dialog before I would be willing to send them anywhere. They are
IT and I am sort of THE archives, at least for the Frontier accident/
incident photos.

Sincaeronautically,
-Billy Walker
(8/9/99)

Russ Farris wrote:
Thanks for the info on the incident, I think it is an amazing story!  One of
the things that would help me a great deal would be 8 x 10 black and white
glossies of N65276, like the ramp shot at Phoenix (that picture is in Len Morgan's DC-3 book, published in 1964) 
and the picture taken of the damage to the left wing. Actually, I would be grateful for ANY pictures, those are the 
only two I'm aware of. A picture is worth a thousand words, and 8 x 10 glossies are best for magazine
publication. I will reimburse you, of course, for any you might have.
Thanks to the Frontier family, I am getting a great deal of material, it is greatly appreciated. 
Regards, 
-Russ Farris
(8/9/99)

Thanks for copying me in, Billy.

The 4Aug1948 prospectus for Challenger Airlines that I have states that the airline bought their first two DC3s from 
Capital Airlines on 8Feb47, six days after Summit changed their name to Challenger.
They made a $25,000 down payment for aircrafts NC65135 & NC65385.   Scheduled air service began 3May47.

As of 4Aug48 the prospectus says the airline had four DC3s.
According to an article in the Fall 1968 issueof the JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Challenger had 
four DC3s at the time of the merger to form Frontier, 1Jun50 - NC65135, NC65276, NC65385, and NC53376.

So, it appears Challenger got NC65276 sometime between Feb47 and Aug48.  If anybody has info on the date of procurement, 
price, seller, etc., please let me know.  We may be able to track it further back.

Russ, I have some photocopies of news articles about the PHX incident that Ken Schultz sent me - I could make you copies 
but  quality of photos not good.
-Jake Lamkins
(8/9/99)

Ken Schultz sent me entire history of aircraft a bit later.  See below.
Jake Lamkins
(8/14/99)

Another interesting side bar to that is that one of my Dad's friends and
partners, Charlie Hirsig, founded Summit Airways the predecessor of
Challenger in 1942. Challenger was reorganized in 1947.

One of my closest friends, from childhood, is Jimmy Hirsig, Charlie and
Marion's son. I was up at his ranch on the Colorado/Wyoming border two
weeks ago and rummaged through a bunch of the old records. There was
several letters of correspondence between Marian Hirsig and Ed Gerhart
(FAL VP) who was doing research for a book on the Frontier story. I
have those to share with Ken Schultz and others when I find the time to make copies.

Charlie Hirsig was killed in a Luscombe 8A buzzing my Dad's and his
brother's ranch "The Pichinoe Ranch" on the Little Laramie in 1945.
Charlie was a flight training supervisor for my Dad's CPT University
Program for Plains Airways, Inc. Plains Airways had three main training
bases, Cheyenne, Laramie and Ft. Morgan, Colorado. Additionally, they
had airplanes and instructors at various other airports in the
Wyoming/Colorado border area. Wheatland and Sheridan, for example, were two places I recall being mentioned.

After Charlie Hirsig "flew West," George W. Snyder took over and went
through a series of applications, etc., before changing the name in a
re-organization plan to Challenger Airways. Then, in June of 1950 the
merger between Monarch, Challenger and Arizona airways took place.

I will attach a photo of Charlie Hirsig standing by my father's old
"Woody" station wagon. You can see the Plains Airways logo on the
door. This car was later totaled by Plains instructor, Johnny Hart (no
relation to deceased retired FAL captain Fred Hart who learned to fly at
Plains Airways)who died in the crash. The accident occurred on a stormy
night on the summit of the highway between Cheyenne and Laramie.

There were several Frontier pilots trained at Plains Airways. In
addition to Fred Hart, Warren Heckman learned to fly at the Laramie base
and Ev Aden received some of his training at the Cheyenne base. I son't
know where Eve learned his expertise on ADF operation, but he was the
world's renowned expert on low freq navigation. FAL loaned him to
Icelandic Airlines to set up their system. He was really something as a
professional airman except he bent all the DC-3 throttles forward...(grin).

While I knew Marion well, I was too young to remember Charlie Hirsig.
My dad always remembered him as a great guy and very dynamic.

Sincaeronautically,
-Billy Walker
(8/9/99)

Jake, this may shed some light on the last two airplanes Challenger
bought. NOW be aware that this is hearsay. I did not go to work for
Challenger until November 1947. They were in full operation by then.
 Sometime after War Two ended the US Government offered military
C-47 aircraft for sale to Veteran's only. The selling price was $10,000
which was VERY low for this type aircraft. Captains I flew with told me
this. This included Sam Grande and Scott Keller. They said that
Challenger had one or more pilots purchase two of these C-47 aircraft
which were then modified to DC-3 configuration. Who did the actual
purchasing I have no idea. Most Challenger pilots were ex-military.
 Scott Keller was in Troop Carrier based in England during War Two.
He told me that one of these aircraft purchased had been used to tow
gliders. It was supposed to be several inches longer than the ordinary
C-47 because it had actually stretched during the many glider tows it
had done. Now, whether this was 276 or 376 I couldn't possibly say. I
suspect that this is true because I heard it several times from Captains
that were in a position to know.
 As I say I was not around when the actual purchase took place but I
have every reason to believe this is the way it happened. Scott Keller
claimed to have actually flown one of these when he was on active duty
during the war. It is unfortunate that we can't be in actual contact
with some of the early Challenger Captains. I am sure they could verify this.
 Jake, I understand you worked in the station at Fort Smith. I
can't ever remember coming in contact with you but I flew Boeing 727
trips through Fort Smith many, many times. If that is where you worked
I had to have seen you at one time or another.
Have a nice day. 
-EP Lietz
(8/9/99)

Thanks, Eldon, for the info.
When you started in Nov47, did Challenger have the four DC3s already?  
If so, that narrows down the period in which we know 276 was purchased - sometime between 8Feb47 and Nov47.
I worked FYV 1964-68, STL 68-70 JAC in the Summers of 1970-71-72, then back to FYV til we pulled out of here in '82.
The next 4 years were ATL SAM MAF DEN (it kinda got blurry then).  I'm sure some where along the line I've stuck my
right arm over your right shoulder with a wad of wt/bal papers.
When did you retire?
-Jake Lamkins
(8/9/99)

Jake, if its no trouble, I would appreciate any copies of the newspaper
stories you make. It would help a great deal. The response to my request has
been tremendous from the Frontier family. Billy Walker has the photos of 276 after the incident, and I think
he may make copies for me, I'll call him tomorrow. Ace Avakian is going to
contact Bert Wrasse to see if he will talk to me about his experience so
long ago. Please let me know what expenses you may incur so I can reimburse you.
Phone: 704-845-2529
Regards, 
-Russ Farris
(8/10/99)

Hi Jake,
 I retired in April of 1980. I did fly into all of the stations you
mentioned at one time or another so we had to have crossed paths one
time or another. Too bad we didn't get better acquainted at the time.
I can only say that my time with Frontier were the most memorable years
of my life. We had a group of employees in every department that were
unsurpassed by anyone. I include all of the folks that came from
Central also. I have often wondered how all of that came about. Our
management was not always that good but the employees were.
 I do believe that Challenger had all four airplanes when I came to
work in November 1947. That has been a very long time ago and my memory
isn't absolutely perfect but I do believe all four airplanes were
there. I have most of my old log books stored away somewhere in a box.
I will try to find the time to locate them and check on that period.
The N numbers of every airplane I flew would be there along with the dates.
 By the way, if purchasing a good C-47 for $10,000 seems ludicrous
try this one. In 1946 I purchase a nearly brand new BT-13 airplane for
$350 from good old Uncle Sam. It turned out that I could afford to buy
it at that price but I couldn't afford to buy all the gas it took to run
the thing. That 450 horsepower engine drank down gasoline at a fearsome
rate. Even at the low prices of that era it was hard for me to fly it
very much. I finally had to sell it.
 The end of World War Two was a ridiculous time. I came back to the
USA in November of 1945. Everything was in short supply. My father ran
a Planing Mill. 4X8 sheets of plywood were almost impossible for him to
get. On Guam I saw piles of that stuff 40 feet high that they took out
and burned. I watched them take a bulldozer and push a brand new B-24
into the ocean. Regular AM radios were very hard to get. I watched
them take a whole boatload of all band receivers, that could pick up
Denver radio station KOA from Okinawa, and dump them into the bay.
These were very sophisticated for that time. They were the standard
equipment on our C-46's and in the B-29. They would receive almost
every available frequency from short wave to standard broadcast
stations. They wouldn't even let us have one to put in our tent. You
could purchase, from the government, a war surplus 12 guage Browning
semi-automatic shotgun for $25. These also were new. I sometimes
wonder about all of that.
 OK Jake, I really enjoy these little memory studies. Let's keep
in touch. Warm Regards from Mrs. Lietz' little boy EP
-EP Lietz\tab
(8/10/99)

Jake,

Here is information on DC-3, N 65276, it is copied from a word processor to  e-mail so the form and structure is usually 
changed. If you want to use any of it for the Alumni List you may have to do some editing.
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FRONTIER AIRLINES DC-3 N65276

REFERENCE DC-3 N65276 HISTORICAL DATA:

Date of Manufacture, December 3, 1943 Douglas Aircraft Co. Model C-47A.
U.S. Army No. 42-100739.
Manufacturers Serial No. 19202.

Operated within the U. S. by the 8th Air Force, Feb 18, 1944 to Aug 5, 1945.

Declared surplus property to be sold by the War Assets Administration.

March 2, 1946, Aircraft released from Military Service.
Total Time while in Military Service, 1045:45 Hours.

March 2, 1946, Sold at Little Rock, Arkansas, to Danny A. Fowlie of Grand Prairie, TX., for $20,000.00.

March 18, 1946, Sold to Executive Transport Corporation, Grand Prairie, TX.,  for $1.00, and other considerations.

April 16, 1946, Application for Aircraft Registration as a DC-3, by Danny Fowlie, 
President of Executive Transport Corp., Grand Prairie, TX.

April 24, 1946, Aircraft Registration Certificate assigned as NC 65276 to  Executive
Transport Corporation, Grand Prairie, TX.

The Aircraft was converted by Texas Engineering and Manufacturing Co.  Grand
Prairie, TX., to a Douglas DC-3C, 32 PCLM. (30 seats in the cabin, plus  Pilot and Co-Pilot ).

May 24, 1946, Conversion completed, and Aircraft sold to Pennsylvania Central  Airlines Corp., 
National Airport, Washington, D. C., for $1.00 and other considerations.

March 11, 1947, Sold to Summit Airways Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah, for $10.00.

March 13, 1947, Chattel Mortgage by Summit Airways Inc., to Mortgagor -
The First National Bank of Salt Lake City, UT., Promissory note of $47,869.89.
Signed by, Summit Airways Inc., George W. Snyder Jr. President. C. Allen Elgrin, Secretary.
 
April 17,1947, CAA Aircraft Registration Certificate issued to Challenger Airlines Co.

June 1, 1950, Bill of sale. Challenger Airlines Co., to Frontier Airlines Co.

January 2, 1968, FAA memo from Supervising Inspector, WE-ACDO-34, to the Aircraft Registration Branch.
Subject: Frontier Airlines DC-3C N 65276 Records.
Aircraft Records can be deleted on Frontier Airlines' DC-3C, N 65276,
S/N 19202,
for on December 21, 1967, the subject aircraft was involved in a major accident on 
take-off, resulting in the crash and burning of the total airframe and structure.
Signed: L. E. Layton

January 16, 1968, Letter from Frontier Airlines Inc. to Aircraft Registration Branch, FAA Oklahoma City, OK.
............. The information you received regarding our Douglas DC-3C Aircraft, N 65276 was correct. 
It was totally destroyed on December 21, 1967. We would appreciate  if you would cancel the Registration of this 
Aircraft ...............Signed: William M. Groody Vice Pres. - Treasurer

January 26, 1968, Aircraft Registration Number canceled by FAA.

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The above information was extracted from the FAA - OKC, Aircraft Record File of  DC-3C, N 65276, SN. 19202.
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HISTORICAL EVENTS

March 17, 1947, The CAB reissued the Temporary Certificate of Public Convenience
and Necessity of Summit Airways, to Challenger Airlines Company. 
 
CAB Order Serial NO. E-397.

May 3, 1947, Challenger Airlines Company Inauguration of Service.

January 27, 1949, Cheyenne, Wyoming. Challenger Airlines Co.
Quote: From CAB Resume' of U. S. Air Carrier Accidents, Calendar year 1949.
A landing was made which was normal except for being slightly faster than usual. 
As brakes were applied they locked in sliding over a small snow covered area and 
upon reaching the dry concrete, the plane nosed up.

The Wyoming State Tribune, Cheyenne, WY. Friday, January 28, 1949,
reported the Incident. Challenger Airlines flight No. 1. ....Propellors of the plane were bent when
they nicked the ground. Crew; Captain Bob Nicholson, Co-Pilot Jack Schade, Stewardess, Eleanor Bastar.
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January 2, 1950, Salt Lake City, Utah. Challenger Airlines Co. 
Flight 7.
Quote: From CAB Resume' of U. S. Air Carrier Accidents, Calendar year
1950.
An instrument approach was made under conditions below company minimums due to seriously ill passenger aboard. 
Landing was made straight in, on runway 16 having a NNW wind at 10 MPH. Aircraft touched down 2500-3000 feet
from head of runway, remaining in a tail-high attitude. Full brakes were used, however, aircraft
failed to decelerate sufficiently to stop on remaining 3500-4000 feet, and skidded 
through boundary fence and across a highway.A car on highway was struck by left nacelle and dragged 40 feet. 
Copilot, who had been communicating with tower, failed to inform Captain of wind change. 
Runway was snow covered and slippery.

Newspaper articles:
The Salt Lake Morning Tribune, Tuesday, January 3, 1950.
The Denver Post, Tuesday January 3, 1950.
Crew; Captain William McCristoll, of Salt Lake City. Copilot Eldon Leetz, of Salt Lake City. 
Stewardess, Batsine Frasier of Denver.
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June 1, 1950, Consolidation-Merger of Arizona Airways, Monarch Airlines, and 
Challenger Airlines to form Frontier Airlines.
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April 21, 1967. Phoenix, Arizona Frontier Airlines Flight 7.
Sunliner News, April, 1957, Vol. 6 - No. 4
On Sunday, April 21, just 55 miles north of Phoenix about 12 ft. of the left wing was left on the rocky crags of 
New River Mountains when the Sunliner hit a down draft. Carrying twenty-three passengers and its crew, Captain
Welling landed the plane safely in Phoenix. 
Crew; Captain Dale Welling, Co-pilot Herman Wrasse, Stewardess Donna Bailey
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December 21, 1967, Denver, Colorado, Frontier Airlines Cargo Flight
The Denver Post, Friday, December 22, 1967.
Stapleton cargo plane crash kills two.
Crew; Captain F. A. "Rocky" Crane, F/O Ricardo Cochran
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Research by Ken Schultz
(8/13/99)

In a message dated 8/13/99 10:58:16 PM, jakelamkins@hotmail.com writes:
<< Ace had mentioned an incident at PUB in about 1954 with this aircraft
too.
>>
========
Jake,
The 1954 incident is a different aircraft.
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August 23, 1958, Pueblo, CO. Flight 1
Aircraft No. N 64424
Crew; Captain Jim Langhofer, Copilot Don Lockwood.
-Ken Shultz
(8/14/99)

SOME STORY, HUH?
-Jake Lamkins 
(8/20/99)