Only 50 Douglas Cargomasters were built, all between 1956 and 1961. The aircraft were designed to carry missiles to remote locations during the Cold War.

The aircraft were retired in 1971 upon the introduction of the C-5 Galaxy. The Anchorage-based plane was one of four purchased as surplus by private owners, who intended to convert them as flying medical clinics.

That project never came to fruition, and the plane was resold to Maurice Carlson, who used it for cargo flights from Fairbanks to the North Slope and flights from Elmendorf Air Force Base to rural Alaska.

The Federal Aviation Administration would not certify the plane as airworthy for commercial aviation, so the Alaska owners used it for government contracts, flying fire trucks, road graders and other large pieces of equipment to the Bush.

The Alaska Air National Guard 176th Wing provided the refueling facilities, and helped ready the aircraft for its final journey by repainting the tail and affixing a new American flag to the aircraft before it was ferried south.