I visited Opa-locka Airport on Wednesday January 23, 2008 specifically to get some updated photos of DC-7B N836D and to discuss the restoration project with Carlos Gomez. Visiting Opa-locka Airport is like entering a time warp...lots and lots of classic aircraft around the airport representing the remnants of Miami International’s famous "Corrosion Corner". The tarmac outside of Florida Air Transport's headquarters is home to a full range of classic Douglas propliners including two DC-7's, a DC-6 (C-118), a DC-4 and a DC-3 newcomer recently purchased by Frank Moss. N836D is looking good! Two props had already been installed and Carlos said that the other two would be hung by the end of the week. He's hoping to run the engines in the next two weeks but wouldn't predict a first flight date. Material for the interior should arrive in early February. Wisetouch Interiors, also based at Opa-locka Airport, will install the interior, which should take about 3-4 months. The original seats could not be salvaged for flight use and more modern seats will be refurbished and installed. The two original lavatories were also beyond help and Carlos has obtained two DC-9 lavatories from a local company scrapping out Northwest Airlines DC-9's. They fit perfect and period fixtures will be salvaged from the original lavatories. Carlos is very well known in the “propliner” community and his friends have been very generous in their support of this very exiting project. Two recent major donations were made by the good folks at Lantal Textiles and Quality Aircraft Interior. Donations are vital to a project like this and we should all be grateful for the generosity of these companies and others who have assisted in the restoration. So…it’s safe to say that the project is rapidly moving towards completion and hopefully the old girl will take to the air in the next few months! As usual with my Florida visits...I spent lots of time chasing the sun before the dark clouds eventually moved in. I don't have a clue why the call it the "Sunshine State". Many thanks to Carlos for taking time from his busy day to talk to me about the DC-7B project and for allowing me access to the ramp.
