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Northern Air Cargo has retired its last 1950s-era DC-6 airplane. The airplane will never again carry cargo like these four wheelers waiting at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport into rural Alaska.
Photos/Rob Stapleton/AJOC
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Northern Air Cargo employees gathered on the east ramp at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Sept. 30 to greet the last cargo flight of a Douglass DC-6 aircraft for the all cargo airline.
“It is a really sad day and an historic one for this company because we have been flying these for over 40 years,” said Wallace Niles, NAC director of flight operations.
NAC was originally owned by the Sholten family, and Rita Sholten was on hand for the final landing. Sholten remembered when NAC first put the four engine aircraft online for hauling cargo.
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Fire and rescue trucks showered the plane with arches of water in a tribute to its last commercial flight from Emmonak to Anchorage on Sept 30.
Photos/Rob Stapleton/AJOC
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“We first put the DC-6 into service in 1969,” said Sholten. “We didn't fly it much the first year.”
Perhaps one of the things that distinguished the DC-6 from other aircraft was its round Pratt & Whitney R2800 engines with reversible three bladed propellers. These powerful engines allowed for heavy lifting and flights into short airstrips. The DC-6 is credited with delivering the materials that built the infrastructure of Alaska.
“These are old airplanes and were very good in their day, but its time for change,” said Sholten.
Making its last haul of fish from Emmonak to Anchorage, the plane - with the tail number N6174C - did a low flyby over the runway, then returned to the pattern and made its last in-service landing.
It taxied through an archway of water, a tribute courtesy of two fire and rescue trucks.
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The retirement of the DC-6 aircraft by NAC on Sept. 30 was an emotional event for some of the pilots.
Photos/Rob Stapleton/AJOC
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“This is a really hard day for all of us gathered here,” Dave Karp, Northern Air Cargo president, told those gathered. “I know that this was a hard decision, and it will impact all of you who have been working with the sixes. But we will get you trained or find something for you.”
The last flight was such an emotional experience for some of the senior pilots that they opted not to fly for safety reasons. There was a toss of the coin to see who would make the last flight, said Timo Saarinen, chief pilot at NAC.
At one time, the cargo airline flew two dozen of the 1950s-era aircraft. The last flight was operated by Capt. Becky Wilbur, First Officer Jim Foss and Flight Engineer Ron Valentine. After they finished their flight, the crew came down the cabin ladder to the ramp and disappeared into the pilot's quarters with no fanfare.
“We have hauled many things with the DC-6,” said Saarinen. “Reindeer, cattle, horses, pigs and lots of tubing and pipe up on the Slope.”
The Douglas DC-6 was manufactured from 1947 to 1959 and originally built as a military troop transports. NAC's first DC-6 was originally used as a radio and TV platform by Perdue University for a program called the MAPTI, or Midwest Aerial Program for Television Instruction.
“I remember the first DC-6 we put into service, we had to seal up all the holes in the fuselage where it had antennae for that program,” said Sholten.
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Former Northern Air Cargo owner Rita Sholten wipes away a tear as she watches the last DC-6 taxi to the company's ramp.
Photos/Rob Stapleton/AJOC
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One of the remaining NAC DC-6 aircraft will be donated to the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum. The others will be sold for use outside of the U.S.
“I promises you that these won't be cut up for scrap,” Karp said. “These aircraft will continue on somewhere else.”
NAC has no plans to add additional propeller-type aircraft, Niles said.
“We are going to concentrate on an all-jet operation and see how we can improve our service,” he said.
Rob Stapleton can be reached at rob.stapleton@alaskajournal.com">rob.stapleton@alaskajournal.com.
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