03/31/2008. Remarks by Jack McKillop: This aircraft, which was marketed as the 4-O-4 or Four-O-Four, was one of 60 that were ordered by Eastern Air Lines and was delivered on November 4, 1952 registered N485A. Eastern sold it to Charlotte Aircraft Corp. on December 17, 1962 and it was sold to Southern Airways of Atlanta, Georgia on June 8, 1964 and reregistered N259S.

It was sold to Shawnee Airlines of Orlando, Florida, in January 1976 and then sold to a leasing company in 1977 which leased it to Florida Airlines of Sarasota, Florida who named it City of Fort Lauderdale. In 1980, it was sold to a New Jersey airline, Ocean Airways, which went bankrupt in 1981 and it was returned to Florida Airlines.

Between 1981 and 1985, it passed through two companies until it was leased to the Florida airline Southern International Airways in November 1985. In 1986, this airline was renamed Systems International Airways. By 1989, it had been withdrawn from service and stored at Bartow, Florida.

Sold to Save-A-Connie (now known as the Airline History Museum, of Kansas City, Missouri) in January 1995, it was again sold to Classic Airways, Inc. in January 20, 1996 and stored on the West Coast of the US. In 2000, the aircraft was delivered to the Martin Museum where it awaits restoration."

Read also the remarks on page 12058.