Workhorse on scrapheap finds Swiss saviours
For Dario Urbani it was love at first sight.
To many, the mangled carcass of a long-abandoned DC-3 plane would be fit for only one thing – being taken apart piece by piece and sold for scrap.
But for Urbani, and his friend and fellow Swiss countryman Reto Casanova, this wrecked aircraft was a dream come true.
It was an opportunity that, just a couple of days later, saw the duo sitting in a hangar at a Kenyan airport, bidding to purchase the dilapidated plane, and in so doing, unwittingly save a piece of New Zealand aviation history.
ZK-BBJ, or ‘‘BuggerBuggerJig’’ as it was affectionately called, was an important early cog in the establishment of New Zealand’s first domestic airline. Having been brought over from the United States by the Royal New Zealand Air Force, NZ3552, as it was known then, spent the first few years after World War II transporting supplies and crew around the Pacific.
The DC-3 was one of the most economical aircraft around at the time, so it was the natural choice for conversion to join the newly formed National Airways Corporation (NAC). After a major refit, a shiny livery, and a new name, ‘‘ZK-BBJ Piripiri’’, in 1953 it began flying passengers around the country.
For nearly two decades, ZK-BBJ was a true workhorse for NAC, flying politicians, entertainers and socialites around the country. Noisy but dependable, the plane was a regular in the skies above Aotearoa.
When the model fell out of favour owing to the availability of more economical aircraft, ZK-BBJ started a new life in 1970 in agriculture, first transporting venison around the country for Luggate Game Packers and alpine hunter Sir Tim Wallis, and then for aerial topdressing company Fieldair.
The plane was in and out of service for nearly 20 years before eventually becoming a ‘‘pure freight’’ aircraft for Fieldair Freight.
In the early 1990s it was bought by Kiwi entrepreneur David Morris, who had just won a catering contract with the United Nations to feed troops, and on April 21, 1993, ZK-BBJ left New Zealand skies for the final time. It was used to fly food and UN staff, first around warravaged Cambodia, and then
Somalia and Kenya. But events took a tragic turn when first Morris’ son was killed, and then Morris himself was murdered in 1995.
Ever since then the aircraft has been left to slowly decay at Mombasa’s Moi International Airport. Forgotten and unloved.
That was until two weeks ago. In November, the Kenya Airports Authority announced an auction of 73 planes that had been left abandoned across the country, and among the listings was this: ‘‘DC3; ZK-BBJ – Morris Catering – KES38,250.00 (USD343.68)’’.
There was nothing of value on the aircraft, hence the tiny price tag, and it was basically waiting to be scrapped. But not far away, two men from Switzerland were quietly plotting to save ZK-BBJ, to give a new life to the plane that won’t die.
Dario Urbani and Reto Casanova have a lot in common: They are both from the same city in Switzerland, Basel; they are both expats in Kenya; and they both have a passion for flying.
Casanova arrived in Mombasa in 2003. He bought a piece of land in a suburb called Shanzu, 14 kilometres north of the city, turning it into a successful go-kart business. It was there ‘‘sometime in 2007 or 2008’’ that he met Urbani, who had come
to Kenya to work in tourism. The duo became fast friends with a love of aircraft, so when the auction by the Kenya Airports Authority was announced, it proved too irresistible to ignore.
Unsurprisingly the plane’s condition was ‘‘not very good’’. Urbani said: ‘‘How do abandoned planes look like after being rained on for almost 30 years? But the fuselage, wings and the interior showed no sign of vandalism or rust, so we decided it is worth saving it from being scrapped.’’
The duo got it for an ‘‘unbelievable price’’ – US$300 or just shy of NZ$445.
Despite a couple of hiccups in dismantling the plane, ZK-BBJ then began yet another journey – this time on the back of a truck through the streets of Mombasa, much to the bemusement of the locals.
The idea is to turn the plane into a restaurant. The duo will keep the registration number and also paint it in one of the many liveries it has had over the years in New Zealand.
Urbani said the restoration work has already started, and the duo are documenting it in their Facebook group, Project Dakota.
He reckons there’s another good four months of hard work ahead.