Flying Bulls DC-6 - Restoration of a Diva

Salzburg Airport in the summer of 2004 a vintage commercial airliner built in 1958 is moving cautiously towards the runway over four years an international team of mechanics and engineers have worked tirelessly to restore this airplane after tens of thousands of hours labor today's the day when this classic douglas dc-6 can return to the skies the team is anxious when everything function correctly during the extremely labor intensive restoration the plane was taken to pieces and completely reassembled the airplane is to become the flagship of the flying bulls a fleet of airplanes belonging to a certain energy drink producer from Austria this is an unusual airplane with a colorful past Windhoek July 2000 haha writer and Ziggy angora from the flying wolves have come to Namibia with a team of pilots and engineers their common purpose to prepare an old commercial airliner for a journey of a lifetime 5,000 miles from Windhoek to Salzburg the agent dc-6 now has a new owner after being used as a tourist airplane in Namibia only the finest vintage instruments in the cockpit the machine seems to be in good condition it was the next-to-last dc-6 to roll off the production line both crew and planner expected in Salzburg in four days after some detailed checks and necessary repairs it's finally time for the pilots and the passengers to witness the rebirth of this child of the 50s the old diva rolls onto the runway a little ponderously a huge amount of muscle power is needed to steer the veteran this is what makes this old aircraft so charming to the pilots plane takes off and wind hook there's all kinds of spare parts onboard 5,000 miles of desert bush and step lay ahead the route takes them from Namibia to Zimbabwe 17,000 feet above sea level at a cruising speed of just over 300 miles per hour the first stop is Victoria Falls tomorrow they'll continue their journey to Entebbe in Uganda which lies directly on the equator at this moment there's a civil war in the southern Sudan which means they need to make a diversion after stopping to refuel and a night of Egyptian splendor they set off towards home after four days and twenty eight hours in the air the dc-6 reaches its destination Salzburg the pilots are proud of what they've achieved the inner penguin without any problem and it was a very pleasant fight I feel very privileged that I could have been part of this and I'm glad that it has found a good home but the enthusiasm for the airplane is dampened after the first maintenance the condition of the plane is worse than expected a complete restoration is needed we always have a peek of this marketing at the value we're very lucky that some things were almost at an end one or two of the engines for example didn't actually break down after taking a closer look under the panels in the trims we saw how really necessary a major restoration was to feeling them all funked another mortem none of those present know what this means in terms of repairs our time vintage specialists from England America and Alaska are charged with bringing the diva back to life this is no easy undertaking it takes months to find the required professionals until a team can be formed be-bop-a-lula shake when you work with old airplanes it becomes a personal thing it's a battle it's not like a modern aircraft like a modern car where you can just pick up the phone and order apart or you throw it away you buy a new one it's just irreplaceable and the work that we're doing to this aeroplane and the level that we're taking it to I feel certain that in 50 years time it will be the only aircraft of this kind flying just all the other airplanes will be scrapped you know or in the mayor of desert because they're just an economical to run this aircraft will not only be probably the best piston engine aircraft at the ground also when we take you to the VIP level it will be a one-off all basic parts of the plane are checked and replaced where there are signs of corrosion approximately 50% of the outer shell of the dc-6 must be replaced the mechanics work on the component parts of the fuselage by hand the metal is worked using traditional tools you just have to run it at peak times dozens of engineers and mechanics are in the hangar nasty surprises crop up over and over again this is an African waffles nest there's hundreds of aids all the way through the aircraft the electrics are to be brought completely up to date 40 miles of cable are required months of detective work are necessary before all the spare parts can be found the dc-6 is colorful past has taken its toll in 1958 the old diva was purchased by Yugoslavian state airline j8e president tito had it refitted as a luxury airplane for state visits here in the former GDR in 1975 tito sold the plane to Zambia's head of state Colquhoun de when he got tired of the dc-6 the jet age was gathering pace even in africa he left it to sit on an airport apron eventually it was sold to someone in the season after delivery time of more than one year the four 2,500 horsepower double star engines from the US have arrived specially adapted to the airplane in the hangar the engines are equipped with sensors and wired up to the new onboard computer monitors in the cockpit will later be used to show pilots engine performance and temperature data one of the biggest problems turns out to be finding new disc brakes a search is carried out worldwide involving dealers collectors and airplane graveyards until finally a set is found but the search doesn't stop there our set of disc brakes will last for just about 400 landings the dc-6 is prepared for its new paintwork various color schemes and liveries are discussed and tested the dc-6 is new paint work combines the old with the new more and more functional tests are needed the plane is jacked up and the undercarriage adjusted at last the final preparations before the star engines can be tested after various test runs it's time for the four engines to be tested on the airplane the team is tense has everything been connected properly Oh right Oh the first engine starts immediately Burley honey that's right after some initial difficulties the second and third engine run clean it's been brilliant it's mega it's nice to see a drone it's alive however the fourth engine has unexpected problems with a propeller we fitted the propellers over in hangar 9 we bought the aircraft over here to hangar eight and we did our ground runs then we found we had a problem developed an oil leak so we had to pull the propeller off and change a seal and rebuild the propeller put it back on the aircraft and carry out some ground runs and that fixed it so there was no problem then that cured the leak after 46 years the second maiden flight is closed that yes Luke this year in year before they didn't figure it was cause Artigas won't been free any planes maiden flight is always something special and after four years of restoration this will be huge for us all we can't wait we're all so excited we admit it one thing we can say it's a better plane now than it was when it left the factory is Santa Monica Senate site is vacant Santa Monica for NASA after four years of restoration the new vintage dc-6 is ready for takeoff the dc-6 on the runway an emotional moment for everyone involved like late like to try to burst meant and go all the way down while we are flying we are unbelievable it's been a real pleasure to privilege to be part of this operation dropped again for a visual inspection stink pleasure today because we're giving a lot of the mechanics have worked for three to have long hard years there first right on the machine and I absolutely love the look on their faces and they worked so hard for so long the restoration has been a real feat of strength luckily for the diva even at her age she still has admirers

Channel: Takeoff TV

Views: 512,764

Keywords: Flying Bulls, Red Bull, Aircraft, Douglas DC-6 (Aircraft Model), Vintage Aircraft, Douglas Aircraft Company (Aircraft Manufacturer), Douglas DC-3 (Aircraft Model), plane

Id: x4PlcKf-XRw

Length: 13min 57sec (837 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 06 2013