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Historic aircraft tours available
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One of American Airlines earliest passenger airplanes, the Flagship Detroit DC-3, will be on display from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday at the Covington Municipal Airport.

Tours of the plane will be available for $3 for adults, children are free, and flights will be available for $150, if 15 or more people sign up, said Sheryl Christian, wife of one of the plane's licensed pilots, Gene Christian. The plane landed in Covington on Wednesday.

The Flagship Detroit was built in 1937, and is the oldest operational Douglas DC-3 airplane in the world. More than 10,000 DC-3s were produced between 1936 and 1944 by Douglas Aircraft, according to pbs.org, and they are considered the most successful passenger aircrafts ever built.

The DC-3 aircraft is notable because it significantly extended flight range to nearly 1,500 miles, was able to fly above most bad weather systems and was the first plane to turn a profit based on passenger fares, according to pbs.org.

The Flagship Detroit was purchased by the non-profit, volunteer-based Flagship Detroit Foundation in 2004, and restored to its original configuration. The foundation seeks to maintain the historic plane and flies it at various airshows throughout the county, according to flagshipdetroit.org. The $150 flight fee actually pays for a one-year membership with the foundation. Members are allowed to fly on the plane for free whenever flights are offered.

For more information, contact Gene Christian at (770) 403-4709.