After serving as a regular USN transport from 1943, BuNo 12418 was transferred to VX-6, NAS Patuxent River in 1955 and converted next year to R4D-5L for use in Antarctica. On 31st October 1956, it made the first ever landing at the South Pole, the crew of seven becoming the first humans there since the Royal Navy's Captain Scott reached the pole in 1912. Qué Será Será was presented to the Smithsonian Institute in 1958 and placed in store at its Silver Hill facility. In 1974 it was loaned to the Naval Aviation Museum but was damaged by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Restored for display inside by 2011

Photographer unknown - ex USAAF 42-23496. Converted to R4D-5L in 1956. Named 'Que Sera Sera' after a popular song of the time, landed on the ice at the South Pole Oct 31, 1956. The aircraft's crew of seven were the first Americans to set foot on the South Pole and the first humans since Capt Robert F. Scott of the Royal Navy reached it in 1912.

Famous as the first aircraft to land at the South Pole on October 31, 1956. Now preserved at the Smithsonian. The aircraft of Operation Deep Freeze II were gathered at Wigram for the the long flight to McMurdo. Nearby Christchurch International later became the base for US flights to Antarctica and remains so today. Photo from: Air Force Museum of New Zealand

VX-6

In open storage on the National Museum of Naval Aviation's restoration ramp.