Sears DC-3 Burbank, CA

[Moses03]

Didn't know Sears had a dedicated freighter in the 1950's. Anyone know what the livery would be in color? Did Sears have several planes in the fleet?

Note the Neptunes, A-20 and Lodestar in the background.

Moses

[Tom/CalClassic]

Probably similar to this later one:

www.pbase.com/image/93127546

I found one more picture, it was similar to the one above but had a medium blue underside.

[gwhess]

Perhaps it was a corporate aircraft rather than a freighter?

Gary

[stansdds]

It does not appear to have the cargo door (C-47) arrangement, so I also think it was a corporate transport aircraft.

[Moses03]

That makes more sense.

Thanks-

[Tom/CalClassic]

That said, small package airlines sometimes used passenger aircraft. But I agree, the Sears aircraft were almost certainly corporate aircraft.

[Dee the man]

When I worked at Renown Aviation (Santa Maria CA) for a short time back in the late 80s, we had a Convair that used to belong to Sears. Originally, it was a CV340 that went back to the factory and was converted over to a CV440. Renown was only the 2nd owner of the plane! It had always been operated under Part 91 rules, and was one of the lowest time Convair airframes in the world at that time, less than 4000 hrs TAT! My rusty memory can't remember the tail number, but it was something like November-something-3Hotel Hotel. I wonder who is operating it these days?

Dee

[Tom/CalClassic]

It appears that this might be the one. It was registered N3HH, and my production book shows that Renown bought it in 1986. Not just two owners, though.

1000aircraftphotos.com/Transports/CV340Sears.htm

Hope this helps,

[jamesvswanson]

My Dad was chief pilot for Sears in the late 50's and early 60's, based at Midway Airport, Chicago. All aircraft were corporate aircraft for executive travel. Chicago fleet at its height, prior to jet aircraft, consisted of a Convair 440, two Dc-3's, and a Beechcraft D-18. Addtional aircraft were a DC-3 in Burbank, CA; a DC-3 in Philadelphia, PA, and a Lodestar in Dallas, TX. Convair registration number was N9730. Original owner was KLM prior to its sale to Sears. All of the planes were repainted in different liveries from time to time---basic colors were blue and white, although the Convair went red, white and gray at one point. I've got a lot of photos and info for anyone who's interested.

[Tom/CalClassic]

Thanks for the information!

[Moses03]

To echo Tom, thanks for the info. Would be great if you could post some photos of these seldom seen aircraft.

Kevin

[capflyer]

N3HH was still "alive" as of 2011 - www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000639210.html

[jamesvswanson]

Here's a photo of the Chicago-based Sears Convair 440, N9730, circa 1960. Location is Los Angeles, where Sears had aircraft exteriors and interiors redone occasionally. I'm glad to see that it's still around, even if it is in a storage facility in New Mexico. Internet information indicates post-Sears registrations were N1PC and N3HH, per capflyer's post, with a short-lived Canadian registration of C-GTVU somewhere in the mix.

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[capflyer]

Actually, in an odd twist, she's owned now by my ex boss (who owns the CV-240 in my avatar). There are 5 others, 3 CV-340/440's and a pair of CV-580's. He would occasionally send guys down to take parts off them, but I think eventually he did want to find them a home. He owned several more than those 6 originally, but most got parted out and scrapped.

[jamesvswanson]

Thanks for the information! Here's another picture of the Convair in what I consider to be her glory days with Sears (1959-1971), taken at the same time as the picture in my previous post. Sounds like your ex-boss is in the aviation maintenance/parts business, and has a soft spot for Convairs. Let me know if you ever become aware of any future plans he has for this Convair.

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