early post restoration picture with the registration small on the fin. Carries "2100971" in small print on the rudder, which is its former USAAF serial (ex 42-100971).

Still with the old DDA markings next to the registration and not yet wearing the new DDA Classic Airlines titles. Carries "2100971" in small print on the rudder, which is its former USAAF serial (ex 42-100971).

Departing on a sightseeing flight over Normandy. Has the Coat of Arms of the Netherlands on the forward fuselage.

Nice look of this Dakota parked in the hangar of the DDA.

With the Coat of Arms of the Netherlands on the forward fuselage.

42-100971 took part in the airborne landing at Sainte-Mère-Eglise on D-Day. Bought by Prince Bernhard in 1946, the aircraft became PH-PBA, the Dutch 'Governemnt Dakota'. From 1960 it served as a calibration aircraft with the Dutch CAA. Preserved in front of the Aviodome at Schiphol when I was a kid, it was restored to flying condition by the Dutch Dakota Association in the late 1990s. Note '2100971', from US serial 42-100971, on the rudder.