Namibia Commercial Aviation

Namibia Commercial Aviation (NCA) was a Namibia-based charter airline that operates a Douglas DC-6B. The airline operated sightseeing charters. The airline was based at Windhoek Eros Airport.

Namibia Commercial Aviation
IATA ICAO Callsign
- - -
Operating basesWindhoek Eros Airport
Fleet sizeOne Douglas DC-6
HeadquartersWindhoek, Namibia
Key peopleChris Schutte

History

The predecessor airline of NCA was Hire and Fly, which was founded in 1977. Chris Schutte, a former station engineer with South African Airways, founded Hire and Fly, which operated single and twin-engine Cessna aircraft.[1]

In 1989, Hire and Fly expanded by taking over the Cessna fleet of Namib Air (now Air Namibia). By 1992, the airline was operating seven Cessna 210s and up to eight twin-engined Cessna 310s when the company changed its name to Namibia Commercial Aviation.[1]

Acquiring the Douglas DC-6A

In December 1990, the company received a contract from the United Nations to provide airlift to war-torn Angola. The company acquired a Douglas DC-6A, which it registered as V5-NCB and started to fly it by June 1991. A second DC-6A was acquired in September 1991. Both of these were leased to a Zairean airline in October 1993, though one was repossessed the following year and sold.[1]

Historic Douglas DC-6B aircraft acquired
V5-NCF at Eros Airport in 1995

In September 1992, NCA purchased 40 tons of spare DC-6 parts from the Zambian Air Force. The sale was contingent on purchasing two DC-6B which had been parked for 15 years. These two were eventually registered in Namibia as V5-NCF and V5-NCG.[1]

V5-NCF had a manufacturer’s serial number of 45563, the second to last DC-6B serial number although it was the fourth to last DC-6B delivery, which took place in January 1958. It served as the presidential plane to then Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito, who used it on a state visit to India in January 1959. Later, it served as the personal transport for then Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda.[2] V5-NCF’s first revenue flight after restoration took place on March 20, 1995.[3]

V5-NCF is no longer operated by NCA having been sold to pay for the restoration of V5-NCG. The aircraft formerly registered as V5-NCF is now based in Austria sporting the Red Bull livery.[4]

V5-NCG was restored by NCA and was first operated on a revenue flight on March 31, 2001. The aircraft was the last Douglas DC-6B built. It is still in operation with NCA.[1]

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References
  • Figgen, A., Ultimate Six, Airways Magazine, Vol. 5., No. 1, March 1998, p. 37-38.
  • Wegg, J., NCA’s Ultimate Sixes, Airways Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 1, March 1998, p. 39-42.
  1. History Archived 2008-02-19 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Wegg, p. 39
  3. Figgen, p. 38
  4. "Red Bull DC-6B visits Amsterdam". www.ruudleeuw.com. Retrieved 2017-08-17.
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