Douglas DC-3 Dakota [VT-CEB]
at Singhania Hospital , Thane
To the north of Bombay city is the smaller
satellite township of Thane. Thane city was the first place in the country from which a
Railway train journey originated way back in the mid 1800s. (Dont remember the
year!). Its quite an old city and is situated 30 kilometers north east of Mumbai on
the western coast of India.
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Douglas
DC-3 Dakota [VT-CEB] is preserved near the Singhania Hospital in Thane
City, north of Mumbai. |
| Close up
of the front fuselage shows the proper care taken in its preservation. Note the jacks on
which the undercarriage rests, preserving the shape of the tyres. |
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Thane's claim to fame on the warbird map of
India is that it houses a World War 2 Vintage DC-3 Dakota belonging to Mr. Vijaypat
Singhania of the Raymonds group. The Dakota, with the civilian registration VT-CEB originally had the USAF serial number 43-49230.
The aircraft's construction number being 26491.
Purchased by Mr. Vijaypat Singhania , the Chairman of JK Raymonds group and a Honorary Air
Commodore of the Indian Air Force, the Dakota was flown as private chartered aircraft till
the mid 90s when it was retired and bought to Thane for display. The aircraft was put up
on display at the Singhania Hospital, a high tech hospital run by the Raymonds group.
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| The
Port engine cowling and propeller as seen in these photos were burnt by the mob last year
in the infamous Thane riots. Fortunately the damaged parts have been fixed and restored |
Disaster struck, however in August 2001,
when the demise of a local political leader at the the Singhania Hospital triggered off
riots by the activists of the political party. The mob ransacked the entire Hospital
destroying all the equipment. Once the destruction was complete, the mob came outside and
pounced on the Dakota. Thankfully the damage was limited to gasoline poured onto one of
the propellers and the fire burning the propellor to cinders. The rest of the aircraft
fortunately escaped the damage. Mr. Vijaypat Singhania was shocked to hear the news of the
damage done to the hospital and especially to his 'baby' Dakota. His press statements at that time
conveyed the message that he would leave the damaged Dakota as is..to symbolise the
violence that broke out on that day.
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| The
Dak sports an unusual sunflower emblem on its fin. We assume it is the logo of the
"Safari Airways", an aircraft charter outfit run by Mr. Singhania earlier. |
Recently when I was returning from the
United States, I made a stopover at Bombay, and stayed at Kapil's place. One of the agenda
for the day was to check out the aircraft which was quite near to the place where we were
staying.
When we drove over the the area, we were
pleasantly surprised to see that the Dakota showed no visible damage and it seemed to have
been restored completely by Mr. Singhania. The aircraft did not have any registration
markings and bore the "Safari Airways" markings.
| Side
profile of the Dak shows the now legendary lines of the Dakota. Military cargo versions
had the large two piece door to facilitate loading of the Jeeps from the rear. |
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After spending time photographing the
aircraft at close quarters and generally admiring the beauty of the aircraft , me and
Kapil had a doubt - How did Mr. Singhania restore the aircraft back to its pristine
glory? Maybe one day we will find out!. Kapil certainly promised to follow up. Hopefully
we should get the gen!
Related Links:
-News report
and picture from Tribune of the Dakota which was damaged in the Thane Riots
-Warbirds of India's report on the incident
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