Iceland Aviation Museum to take ownership of famed DC-3

The Iceland Aviation Museum in Akureyri is set to take permanent ownership of the famed Douglas DC-3 known as Páll Sveinsson, mbl.is reports. The aircraft is expected to be formally handed over around the turn of the year, after being stored at the museum since 2008.

The Þristasjóður, a fund that currently owns the plane, will be wound up, transferring ownership and responsibility to the museum. The aircraft is considered an important part of Iceland’s aviation history and has significant value for display and preservation.

The DC-3 arrived in Iceland in 1943 for the US Army at Keflavík Airport and was initially used for various military transport duties. Flugfélag Íslands bought it in 1946 and named it Gljáfaxi. The airline used it for decades on domestic routes, including flights to remote locations, and for flights to Greenland, where it often landed on snowfields with skis fitted beneath its wheels.

In 1972, Flugfélag Íslands gave the aircraft to the State Soil Conservation Service. It was renamed Páll Sveinsson after a former soil conservation director. The plane was used to spread seed and fertilizer from airfields around Iceland, helping distribute more than 36,000 tonnes by 2006, when its work in soil conservation ended.

“Military flying, passenger services, fertilizer flights and display flying are now behind it. The DC-3 has not flown for seven years and has essentially become a museum piece on the ground. As such, it needs professional and permanent preservation,” Environment Minister Jóhann Páll Jóhannsson said at the signing. He was involved in the matter in his capacity as minister responsible for soil conservation.

“The DC-3 is now in safe hands under the declaration that has been signed,” said Steinunn María Sveinsdóttir, director of the Iceland Aviation Museum. She said the aircraft is kept in good conditions at the museum, where displays and information tell its story. The museum expects to welcome nearly 15,000 visitors this year.

Hannes Thorarensen, an aircraft mechanic, and Karl Hjartarson, a retired police officer, are among the aircraft’s dedicated supporters. They care for the plane and regularly travel north to start its engines and keep them turning. Whether it can be made airworthy again remains to be seen, Steinunn María said.