#dc3

Douglas C-47 Indigo Aviation

Registration: 5H-DAK Named: Wave Dance Type: C-47A-30-DL Engines: 2 × PW R-1830-92 Serial Number: 9581 First flight: 1943

Sometimes, the most interesting airlines are the ones almost no one has heard of. Indigo Aviation from Tanzania is one of those. Having existed for just over a year, it never really left a mark on history. The airline began operations in 2009 with a fleet of just two aircraft—both Douglas C-47A Skytrains, the military version of the legendary DC-3. The company had plans to operate both scheduled routes and charter flights for hunting tours across Tanzania.

The aircraft with registration 5H-DAK connected the islands in the Indian Ocean off the Tanzanian coast, performing daily flights on the route: Pemba – Zanzibar – Dar es Salaam. Built in 1943 for the needs of the US Army, it was later "demobilized" and became a regular civilian airliner in the USA, of which a great many appeared after the war.

After serving with three different airlines, in March 1971 the plane was sold to the major South African construction company Grinaker Limited. The aircraft flew to South Africa, received the local registration ZS-GPL and its own name, Mosadi Mogolo. It spent a short time working in Botswana, where it was used to transport international observers. This was followed by a string of local owners. During this period, the aircraft even participated in a stunt scene for the film African Express in 1989. Then, in 2001, the plane ended up with the airline of the famous pilot Flippie Vermeulen—Springbok Classic Air. The aircraft was fully restored and carried tourists on air safaris in an authentic retro livery. Finally, in 2009, it was sold to the Tanzanian operator Indigo Aviation. After flying to Dar es Salaam, it received the registration 5H-DAK and the name "Wave Dance."

But time took its toll; the planes were aging, and funds for maintaining such rare vintage machinery were catastrophically lacking. In July 2010, the Tanzanian Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) revoked the company's operating license. The second aircraft never made a single commercial flight—it was simply ferried to Dar es Salaam, where it sat on the ground at least until May 2021, judging by photographs.

The story of Indigo Aviation is one of two airplanes, a handful of passengers, blue water between islands, and a concrete runway just over a mile long. Somewhere between regulators, charters, and malfunctioning radios, this story came to an end. And only a poster on an aviation fan's wall, among many others, will long occupy a special place as a rare reproduction of a unique airplane on that distant, mysterious continent.

The three turboprop conversions of the Douglas DC-3.

Conroy Turbo-Three: Replaced the original piston engines with two Rolls-Royce Darts mounter further forward of the wing.

Conroy Tri-Turbo-Three: Replaced the engines with THREE Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6, effectively turning it into one of the last trimotors.

Basler BT-67: Also replaced the engines with the PT6, but only the two on the wings, while also lengthening the fuselage and modifying the wings for better aerodynamic performance.

Me, 4 years old in Benina airport in Benghazi. That is how everything started.