| 15/02/1954 |
Manufactured |
| 16/02/1954 |
Accepted by SCRT (08.05 hours) + engines Alvis Leonides Mk.12701 n° 944 and 946 (both with |
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06.05 hours) |
| 17/02/1954 |
Handed over to the Belgian Charges d'Affaires Mr. Jean de Nieveenhuys at Luton (UK) by Percival |
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MD W. A. Summers |
| 19/02/1954 |
Taken on Charge by 20Sqn/15W (Flight Communications) |
| 16/05/1955 |
Cat. 2 in flight (14h35L) Cargo-door opened in flight, damage to rear fuselage. Cdt Vl Firlefijn André |
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and Sgt Vl Reymen Jacques (Co-pilot) unhurt (143.00 hours) |
| 17/07/1957 |
Cat. 1 at Melsbroek AB. Tail damaged by prop-wash from a commercial a/c making its "run-up" |
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nearby |
| 14/06/1960 |
Cat. 2 at Melsbroek AB. During routine maintenance the nose-wheel collapsed. Nose damaged. Kpl |
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Deceuster unhurt |
| 02/04/1973 |
Cat. 2 at Melsbroek AB. A violent gust damaged tail-surfaces. Maj Vl Baccaert unhurt. |
| 06/02/1974 |
Cat. 3 in flight over the Bressy Beacon, hit by lightning. Hole in left wing. ADC Vl Geruzet unhurt |
| 13/01/1976 |
Flown from Melsbroek AB to Koksijde AB for storage after 2917.53 flying hours |
| 06/04/1976 |
In protective storage |
| 06/04/1976 |
Struck of Charge through note VDE/52/18424 of 10/12/1974. Engines Alvis Leonides Mk.12701 n° |
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962 (Left) (653.26 hours) and 955 (Right) (544.32 hours) |
| 18/01/1978 |
Sold to Air America Inc., Factoryville, Pennsylvania, USA (Exchange agreement 730006 of |
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18/01/1978) |
| 28/01/1978 |
Aircraft Registration Application for N51973 |
| 06/03/1978 |
Registration N51973 issued |
| 31/05/1978 |
Flown to Prestwick (UK) and the same day Flown to Blackbushe for long-range tank and |
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instrument fitting together with N51951 and N51966 |
| REMARK |
notes come from Belgium, but they don't agree with spotter's reports from the UK |
| 00/00/1978 |
Flown to USA |
| 17/10/1978 |
Special Airworthiness Certificate (valid from 17/10/1978 until 27/10/1978) for ferry flight from |
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Seamans Field, Factoryville, Penn. to University Park Airport, State College, Penn. |
| 27/10/1978 |
Sold to K.R. Williamson, 1246 E. College Ave., State College, Penn. 16801 |
| 27/10/1978 |
Aircraft Registration Application for N51973 |
| 31/10/1978 |
Application for Airworthiness Certificate by K.R. Williamson |
| 31/10/1978 |
Special Airworthiness Certificate (valid from 31/10/1978 until 30/10/1979) for use at airshows and |
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fly-ins |
| 15/11/1978 |
Aircraft Registration N51973 issued |
| 23/06/1979 |
Sold to J. O'Neil in New York |
| 23/06/1979 |
To City Sea Plane Corp., 410 South State St., Dover, Delaware, USA (Mr. J. O'Neil) |
| 28/06/1979 |
until 20/07/199 in maintenance at Skytop Airport, Roscoe NY for the sum of 2722 USD |
| 28/08/1979 |
Aircraft Registration Application for N51973 |
| 19/09/1979 |
Aircraft Registration N51973 issued |
| 21/11/1979 |
Request for impoundment of aircraft by Skytop because maintenance bill has not been paid |
| 00/00/1981 |
Sold to Mr. Charles Woods (?) |
| 00/00/0000 |
Leased to people who got in trouble with Federal Drug Authorities |
| 27/04/1983 |
Aircraft is impounded |
| 00/00/0000 |
Stored at Farmingdale (NY, USA) |
| 29/12/1986 |
Aircraft is forfeited and condemned to the use and benefit of the United States of America by the |
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U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York |
| 13/05/1987 |
Sold by U.S. Department of Treasury, U.S. Customs Service to Mr Charles Woods, Box 1089, |
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Dothan, Alabama 36302, USA |
| 01/08/1987 |
Sold to Yankee Air Force, Essex County Airport, 125 Passaic Avenue, Fairfield, New Jersey 07006 |
| 25/10/1987 |
Flown from Farmingdale, New York to Essex County Airport in Caldwell, New Jersey, USA to be part |
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of the Yankee Air Force, Northeast Division |
| 30/09/1987 |
Aircraft Registration Application for N51973 |
| 14/09/1988 |
Registration N51973 issued |
| 10/09/1991 |
Aircraft owned by Yankee Air Force Inc., PO Box 1100, Ypsilanti, Michigan 48197, USA |
| 17/05/1996 |
Aircraft stored at Caldwell Wright Airport (NJ) (with RM1/OT-ZAA BAF colourscheme) |
| 18/10/1999 |
still registered as N51973. Owner: Yankee Air Force Inc - Belleville |
| 00/00/0000 |
The engines have not been run for a few years due to higher priorities but it may be made |
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airworthy to ferry to a new location. (tt 3100 hours) |
| 10/11/2007 |
Still at the Northeast Division of the Yankee Air Force Inc. at the Essex County Airport, Caldwell, NJ |
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| REMARK |
data provided/corrected by Tom Singfield and Sean Keating |
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| NOTE |
The note refers to all Air America Pembrokes. The Belgian Pembroke byer Air America Inc had |
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NOTHING to do with the CIA outfit from the Vietnam days. Air America Inc's boss, "The Flying Dutchmen" Rik Luytjes was, however, a wheeler-dealer. He sold several Pembrokes to drug runners. A book called "Trafficking: The Boom And Bust Of The Air America Cocaine Ring" by Berkely Rice tells his story and has some scary details.
The Pembroke was an ideal "doper" and sold to the runners for 50.000 USD each ! It could carry a dozen bales of marajuana and the big doors enabled a quick drop on a runway and even the belly doors were used for air drops.
See also "HE PARKED HIS CONSCIENCE IN THE HANGAR", article from the New York Times
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