TOPEKA (KSNT) – An old WWII-era plane housed at Forbes Field is getting settled in to its new home in Topeka this week.
Workers have transported the 13,000-pound plane from its former display at Forbes Field in south Topeka over to the Philip Billard Municipal Airport in the Oakland area. It is a Douglas DC-3 R4 D plane, a type of military aircraft used by the Navy during WWII.
Stephen Osborne with Top Aviation Services said these “warbirds” were used for troop and cargo transport during the war years. He said the idea to move the plane from Forbes Field to Billard comes from a desire to invest in the airport in the Oakland area and give the local Flight School a cool new look.
“It was sitting there at a museum where it was falling apart, not being used,” Osborne said. “We decided to preserve the aircraft, and we just thought — why not bring it here and make it fun?”
(Photo By: Tim Schoepflin)
(Photo By: Tim Schoepflin)
(Photo By: Tim Schoepflin)
(Photo By: Tim Schoepflin)
(Photo By: Tim Schoepflin)
(Photo By: Tim Schoepflin)
(Photo By: Tim Schoepflin)
Osborne said the DC-3 in Topeka was decommissioned in Kansas City and brought to Forbes Field a few years ago. He said the DC-3 arrived at Billard about a week ago, describing the process of moving it as “tedious.”
“Here within a couple weeks, we’ll have a large crane out here on the field and we’ll pick it up and put it on some mounted structures here on the side of the building,” Osborne said. “It’ll be visible from quite a ways away. It’ll be pretty exciting.”
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Workers will place the plane atop the Flight School at Topeka’s Philip Billard Municipal Airport at some point in the next two weeks. You can learn more about the Flight School by clicking here.
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