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Douglas DC-3's are often featured attractions at air shows and provide attendants with a sense of nostalgia and history. This one flew in and out of the Toccoa-Stephens County Airport last week as two pilots received training.
It wasn't a UFO, but Stephens County residents may have seen an unusual flying object if they looked into the northeast Georgia skies last week.
That object, said Toccoa-Stephens County Airport manager Amber McCall, was a vintage Douglas DC-3 airplace.
"This plane is of special significance in that it went into service March 2, 1937, was one of the first airliners in civil aviation, and was the model for paratrooper planes in World War II," McCall said.
She said the reason the DC-3 was flying here last week was American Airlines requested one of the hanger tenants at the airport to train a couple of pilots how to fly it.
"He takes them up and he asks them to do different types of maneuvers to be licensed as a DC-3 pilot," McCall said.
The DC-3 that flew onto the runaways at R.G. LeTourneau Field last week came from Shelbybille, Tenn.
McCall said that DC-3 planes primarily are used for tourist events including air shows and discussions about the plane's history.
She said there's a sense of "nostalgia and prestige" that surrounds the DC-3.
"It is a rare piece of aviation history to still be in service and, of course, make a visit to Toccoa," McCall said.
"From the feedback we received, it was hard to miss it in the sky due to its size and sounds," she said.