An old Douglas Dakota aircraft, purchased this March by the landowners of Sólheimasandur from the Icelandic DC-3 Friends Association, was transported last night from Keflavík Airport to rural South Iceland, reports Vísir. The plan is to place the fuselage near the famous US Navy plane wreck, which has become one of the South Coast’s most visited tourist attractions.
The fuselage travelled on a flatbed truck with a police escort, passing through Grindavík and along the South Coast Road, then crossing the Óseyrar Bridge and continuing along the Ring Road over the Þjórsá River to its destination at Sólheimasandur. The plane’s wings were transported on two separate trucks.
Earlier yesterday, the aircraft was removed from a hangar at Keflavík Airport, where it had been stored for the past eighteen years. As it couldn’t fit through the airport gate, it had to be hoisted over the perimeter fence.
The aircraft, named Gunnfaxi and registered TF-ISB, served for many years on domestic routes with Flugfélag Íslands (Icelandair’s predecessor). It last flew in 1976 before being donated to the Soil Conservation Service of Iceland for use as spare parts for another aircraft, Páll Sveinsson. When the DC-3 Friends Association received Páll Sveinsson as a gift in 2005, Gunnfaxi came along with it.
The US Navy wreck that crashed on the sand in 1973 already draws thousands of visitors each year.
“We’ll just add this one to the mix. We plan to make her look as good as possible — ideally like the Navy plane did when it landed,” said Benedikt Bragason, a farmer at Ytri-Sólheimar.
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