Keychain made of real aircraft skin: Douglas C-54 Skymaster N6816D (patina)

Please note:  The Patina PlaneTags you receive will arbitrarily be chosen from the limited quantity as shown in the photo. No requests accepted.

Our C-54 served in the Navy from 1945 until the mid 1970's. This is where things get interesting and a bit confusing. Many of these tough birds went on to civilian service, including our C-54. Because of a mix up of a few numbers it was reported lost in the Pacific Ocean at one point. Yet, it appears to have been reregistered as HK-1807 and flown many years as a charter aircraft in Colombia. It is certain, however, that Bill Dempsay  added it to his fleet of fire bombers. Tanker #109 was fitted with a 2,000 gallon belly retardant tank and used for fighting wildfires for USFS and BLM contracts until the mid 1980's. Read more about its history in our blog: C-54 Skymaster: The Mysterious Tanker 109

This C-54 remained at Marana, AZ, for decades, with the hopes the fleet would fly again. It was parted out, but we were able to acquire material for a limited edition of 3000 tags. MotoArt is thrilled to add this storied C-54 Skymaster to our growing fleet of PlaneTags. Don't miss adding a memento from this warbird-turned-firefighter to your collection.