Withdrawn to MASDC on 15th December 1969, declared excess in January 1970 and scrapped. Richards Gebaur AFB closed in 1994 although the Kansas City authorities operated the airport from 1983 until it closed completely in 1998.

The Smith Miniplane was designed by Mr. Frank Smith of Fullerton, CA. in 1957. Close to 400 sets of plans have been sold over the years. In the U.S. there are 83 Miniplanes with current registrations as of mid 2022.

Built as USAAF C-53 41-20092. Used by the Doobie Brothers Band circa late 1970s through 1990 to transport their road crew and sound equipment to concert sites. By 2004 it was reported located in San Juan Puerto Rico in derelict condition, and by June 2017 the FAA registration had been cancelled.

Originally built as USAF S/N 48-0484.

Note the longer "radar nose" prior to weather radar actually being installed. Scanned from a K64 slide at 4000DPI.