The first flight of a DC-3 took place on December 17, 1935, at Santa Monica Airport. The aircraft proved so successful and reliable that many remained in service around the world. The aircraft displayed here was built at Santa Monica Airport and delivered to the U.S. Army Air Corps as a C-53-DO on February 17, 1942, with an initial role as a 28-seat paratrooper and glider tug. It was delivered to the USAAC as 41_20107, transferred to the U.S. Navy on February 21, 1942, as an R4D-3 with BuAer No. 05075, retired from military service on August 31, 1946, and purchased by Nationwide Airlines as DC-3 tail # NC1075M. It was purchased by Richfield Oil Company on December 1, 1953, reregistered as N60R on April 4, 1956, reregistered in the fall of 1957 as N596AR to Atlantic Refining Company, reregistered to Atlantic Richfield Company of Philadelphia in May 1970, and by 1985 was stored at Sonoma County Airport. In the spring of 1989 it was displayed at the Museum of Flying, Santa Monica, on loan from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. David G. Price purchased it from the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County on May 1, 1997, donated it to the City of Santa Monica on October 6, 2004, and in June 2005 a restoration team began work on the Spirit of Santa Monica, followed by a ceremony for the completed restoration and groundbreaking for the monument on December 17, 2005, and the dedication of the DC-3 Spirit of Santa Monica monument on March 21, 2009.
