Douglas DC-7C Seven Seas, N90804 / 45116, T & G Aviation
This picture is © Martin Laycock and may not be used or published without permission.
Registration: N90804
Construction Number: 45116
Code Number: African Queen
Model Douglas DC-7C Seven Seas
Operator: T & G Aviation
Airport: Chandler - Memorial Airfield (L07 / KL07), USA - Arizona
Photographer: Martin Laycock
Date Taken: 10/05/1993
Date Submitted: 21/01/2009
Originally delivered to British Overseas Airways Corporation on 29 December 1956 as G-AOIF. She was subsequently sold to FB Ayer & Associates as N90804, then Saturn Airways, then Fleet Leasing of America and leased to Sky Hoppers Travel Club. She was then bought by Great Lakes Aero Leasing then Dodds Corporation and leased to Century 2000 Travel Club, returned to Dodds Corporation then bought by WF Monahan. She then passed to Aerial Applications, Douglas County Aviation before being aquired by T&G Aviation. Why African Queen? On 8 December 1988 she was number two in a formation of two T&G Aviation DC-7's flying from Dakar-Yoff, Senegal to Agadir-Inezgane, Morocco on a locust control mission. Both aircraft were following their flight plans on airway R975 at an altitude of 11,000 feet, flying 1.5 miles apart. Both aircraft were attacked and hit by SAM-7 surface-to-air missiles fired by the Polisario. The lead aircraft (N284) lost an engine, part of a wing and crashed killing all five on board. N90804 lost an engine and suffered other damage, but it was able to land at Sidi Ifni, on the Moroccan coast. The Polisario soldiers had mis-identified the DC-7s as Moroccan military C-130 aircraft. After many months stranded in Africa, T & G restored her to flying condition and brought her home to Chandler. After a fascinating career, and surviving war-torn Africa, her last challenge was beating the scrap men, sadly she lost that one and was broken up at Chandler. The forward fuselage survived though and was moved to Coolodge Municipal Airport, Arizona.
Picture ID:1154152