History
The predecessor airline of NCA was Hire and Fly, which was founded in 1977. Chris Schutte, a former station engineer with South African Airways, founded Hire & Fly, which operated single and twin-engine Cessna aircraft.[1]
In 1989, Hire and Fly expanded by taking over the Cessna fleet of Namib Air (now Air Namibia). By 1992, the airline was operating seven Cessna 210s and up to eight twin-engined Cessna 310s when the company changed its name to Namibia Commercial Aviation.[1]
Acquiring the Douglas DC-6A
In December 1990, the company received a contract from the United Nations to provide airlift to war-torn Angola. The company acquired a Douglas DC-6A, which it registered as V5-NCB and started to fly it by June 1991. A second DC-6A was acquired in September 1991. Both of these were leased to a Zairean airline in October 1993, though one was repossessed the following year and sold.[1]
Historic Douglas DC-6B aircraft acquired
In September 1992, NCA purchased 40 tons of spare DC-6 parts from the Zambian Air Force. The sale was contingent on purchasing two DC-6B which had been parked for 15 years. These two were eventually registered in Namibia as V5-NCF and V5-NCG.[1]
V5-NCF had a manufacturer’s serial number of 45563, the second to last DC-6B serial number although it was the fourth to last DC-6B delivery, which took place in January 1958. It served as the presidential plane to then Yugoslavian President Josip Broz Tito, who used it on a state visit to India in January 1959. Later, it served as the personal transport for then Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda.[2] V5-NCF’s first revenue flight after restoration took place on March 20, 1995.[3]
V5-NCF is no longer operated by NCA having been sold to pay for the restoration of V5-NCG. The aircraft formerly registered as V5-NCF is now based in Austria sporting the Red Bull livery.[4]
V5-NCG was restored by NCA and was first operated on a revenue flight on March 31, 2001. The aircraft was the last Douglas DC-6B built.
