OH-LCH —

photo taken June 14 when it flew over where I live.

History of OH-LCH
The aircraft was completed at Douglas Aircraft Company’s plant in Santa Monica, California, on Christmas Eve 1942, and was ordered by Pan American Airways and intended for Latin American routes. Due to the war, the aircraft was recruited by the Armed Forces on December 27, 1942, and served from the spring to fall of 1943 in the North Atlantic Division of the Transport Aircraft, where it was probably stationed at Presque Isle Maine . In late autumn, the aircraft was moved to Europe , where it was presumably engaged in troop transport missions. In October 1944, the plane was transferred to the 8th U.S. Air Force and at the end of the war it was placed at the Oberpfaffenhofen depot in Germany .

In 1948, the Finnish state acquired the machine for the use of Aero Oy . The first scheduled flight took place on July 21, 1948 on the route Malmi - Vaasa - Tampere - Malmi. The following winter, the aircraft was refurbished as a civil aircraft. The aircraft flew until December 1960, and accumulated 22,137 flight hours. At this point, the aircraft was dismantled as spare parts, but it was reassembled and equipped with a cargo door, as Aero needed cargo aircraft for its use. The aircraft was registered with the old code after Midsummer in 1963. The aircraft flew on the Aero until April 1967, when it was recorded on the Aero's last scheduled passenger flight on a DC-3.

In 1970, the aircraft, as well as other Finnair DC triplets, were sold to the Air Force , and this aircraft was given the DO-11 symbol. In 1985, these machines were retired. OH-LCH as well as OH-LCD were transferred to Airveteran Oy . The latter aircraft is currently housed in the Finnish Aviation Museum .

Also check out my YouTube channel Aircraft5.