One special airplane

The massive, radial-engine transport with EDO amphibious floats first flew in Greenville in 1990. Legendary bush pilots Dick Folsom and his son Max mated a 1943 DC–3 with a set of refurbished floats with the idea of using it to ferry well-heeled visitors from Boston and other East Coast cities to Moosehead Lake in central Maine.

The FAA limited the one-of-a-kind floatplane to the experimental category, however, and that barred it from being used for commercial flights. The Folsoms flew it to airshows as far away as Lakeland, Florida, but didn’t find a long-term sponsor.

The airplane was taken off floats in 2004 and remained on wheels until 2020 when the Folsom family and others revived efforts to make it a floatplane again. The Wright Cyclone-powered twin flew again on September 14, 2024, with veteran pilot Eric Zipkin at the controls but mechanical repairs kept it on the ground for almost a year.Eric Zipkin (right) and co-pilot Garrett Fleishman flew the world’s only DC–3 on floats to the International Seaplane Fly-in in Greenville, Maine.Zipkin and co-pilot Garrett Fleishman teamed up to fly the airplane this year along with Rodney Folsom, son of the late Dick Folsom

“The airplane hasn’t flown much in the last 20 years, and waking up an old airplane can be a complicated process,” he said. “You just go slowly and methodically and take it step by step.”

Zipkin said he’s been enamored with the one-of-a-kind DC–3 since he first saw it in Greenville as a new floatplane pilot. Dick Folsom gave him a tour of the airplane and Zipkin said flying it decades later is a dream come true.

“On land, it taxis like a very heavy Super Cub,” he said. “You want to be gentle with it, but you can’t be too gentle, or nothing happens. On the water, it’s a different story because it’s quite graceful and just really, really fun.

“I’ve been fortunate to fly some wonderful airplanes over the years, but this one is special. It’s my favorite airplane I’ve ever flown.” 

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