Outside the thriving desert mecca of Tucson in southern Arizona lies a little-known piece of aviation history among the local population and aircraft enthusiasts alike. The small Marana Regional Airport, which has past hosted famous aircraft such as Columbine II and the Collings Foundation on their annual tour, has held on to only five of the once sizable handful of World War II-era aircraft stored there.
The oldest of these aircraft stored are four C-54 Skymasters: Tankers 111 (N96451), 150 (N67034), 147 (N67040), and 109 (N6816D). The most elderly of the bunch are Tanker 111 and Tanker 150, which were constructed by the Douglas plant in Chicago, Illinois. Both aircraft started their service with the USAAF in 1942 and 1943, respectively, and were transferred to the U.S. Navy with a new designation and BuNo soon after the end of WWII. Tanker 147 and 149 both took on strength/charge with the USAAF in 1944 and met the same fate as T111 and T150, with these two also being painted in naval colors and pressed into service with the USN. These four aircraft were then used as transports for both personnel and cargo for the Navy up until the late 1960s when they were retired and stored at Davis-Monthan AFB, a short 30-minute drive from their current location at Marana. During the mid 1970s to early 1980s, one by one, they were saved from the guillotine and repurposed into fire bombers.
These C-54s were painted in firefighting markings and began an around ten year long career of battling forest fires throughout the U.S. with William Dempsay’s company Central Air Service. CAS operated a sizable fleet of water bombers during this period, including eight other C-54s which shared the same roots as military transports in a past life. These planes were stressed to their limits, and were based out of Fox Field in Lancaster, California at this time.
However, beginning in the early 1990s, Central Air Service lost work, and their once-thriving fleet of water bombers was advertised as ‘ready to fly” and put up for sale. William Dempsay personally ferried most of the sold aircraft to their new homes, including four to Marana. Starting in 1989 with Tanker 150, the once proud firefighters began collecting dust, facing an uncertain future as the era of classic piston air tankers came to a close. Thankfully, the dry climate of Tucson has prevented corrosion on the aircraft, resulting in them being preserved remarkably well. Various plans have been proposed to use the ruggedness of the C-54 airframes for use in the cold north in Alaska and in movies. As of January 2025, most of the Skymasters haven’t moved an inch since their tires made contact with the desert soil in 1989.
Most of the other aircraft that turned Marana into a WWII transport aircraft paradise have now since left or been cut up, with one exception. Central Air Service also had in their fleet two former Navy Lockheed Neptunes, including N80232 which has been stored along with its four sisters for more than twenty five years now. The over-60-year-old plane is parked a little ways from its C-54 counterparts, ironically close to ATW Aviation which specializes in restoring WWII era warbirds.
These aircraft are preserved similar to museum pieces, with Tanker 111 being in the best shape externally. All four of the Pratt & Whitney R-2000 engines are still attached as well as the propellers. The cockpit has withstood the test of time, with the gauges and yoke still intact after being prone to wildlife such as birds through the open windows. The only thing preventing it from flying out tomorrow besides a thorough FAA inspection is the control surfaces, which are stored inside the fuselage.
The other aircraft have not been so lucky as Tanker 111. Tanker 109 was mostly scrapped in 2021 by Motoart to be turned into luggage tags and the nose shipped to a local collector, with the derelict carcass of what once served in both military and firefighting roles still remaining on the airport grounds. Tanker 147 had its tail section sliced off for transportation to Alaska to repair DC-4 N3054V, which was restored at the Wasilla Airport from 2018 to 2020 and was written off in a crash in early 2024. The wings were also cut up, presumably in preparation for a move to Las Vegas to become a movie prop, but those plans have not come to fruition. Finally, Tanker 150 was sold to Alaska Air Fuel, and all useful components were taken off and the aircraft gutted. The components of the cockpit, control surfaces, and wheels were all removed and shipped to Alaska.
For the time being, these five war horses will continue to be a unique sight for those flying in and out of the airport, with their faint red tails sticking out against the light green tree cover like sore thumbs. Who knows, possibly one could end up in a museum sometime in the near future or all could be scrapped like the others that came before them. Only time will tell.
Many thanks to Aero Visuals for the photos.
