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Heartbreaker - The Aircraft
Heartbreaker is a Douglas DC-3 Dakota, lovingly restored and refurbished by our own Atlantic Skies crews and painted to reflect what might have been the livery of Atlantic Skies had we been in business when this aircraft was the height of airborne luxury. Then, while in our fleet maintenance facility in Salt Lake City, the latest in satellite communications equipment was installed and an updated flight management system was retrofitted into her already cramped cockpit. The latter to allow for safer single-handed long-distance flight, and the former to allow her pilot, our own Chariman of the Board Patrick Riley, to continue his work with little interruption from the most remote locations.
Technical Data/History
From carefully researched records, we know that Heartbreaker began life in 1937 as a civilian airliner and then was converted to a military transport three years later, which is why some of the design details differ from the standard DC-3 passenger design. Most of the following specs, however, should be right on the button.
After the war, she was, uh, aquired by the Egyptian government and from that point on her story is wrapped in mist thicker than the London fog on a rainy November morning. An Atlantic Charters pilot, on vacation, found her as an abondoned hulk near a small dirt airstrip in Somalia. Rusty, sitting on her fuselage, and home to a small scorpion that managed to hide itself away inside the instrument panel until the plane had been airlifted to Salt Lake and was in the process of being torn apart.
Our lead airframe engineer still feels numbness in his left hand when he makes a fist, or so he says.
One thing you won't notice here is the Squawkbox FMS and the GlobalComm satellite communications system, as well as the state-of-the-art computer station located just forward of the cargo bay. Another small item not listed in these specs is the Sony 12-disc CD changer and DVD entertainment system. Hey, some of the airports this aircraft will fly into are nothing more than dirt and tin shacks. He is the chariman, after all!
From the refurbished communications/nav bay just aft of the cockpit, looking forward. Note the jumpseat in its lowered position
Snapshots
The following images were taken shortly after Heartbreaker was rolled out of our maintenance facility in Salt Lake City.
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