Gooney Bird

Passing through Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, we saw an airplane on a pedestal. A little investigation proved interesting. Civilians know the aircraft as a Douglas DC-3, the military designates it a C-47, and pilots everywhere affectionately call it a Gooney Bird. The Gooney Bird’s place in aviation history cannot be overstated. Though the total hours on the airframe of this aircraft (31,000 +/-) is unremarkable, it lived out most of its life as a bush plane, on wheels and skis, in the Yukon. Interested parties rescued this bird from going to the scrape yard, restored its appearance and turned it into a weather vane.