The morning of March 15th, 2008 started out much like one eighty years ago… low, gray clouds draping over the mountains and fog packed into the passes.

In 1928, pilot Grant Donaldson pulled the wheel back in Boeing’s first commercial passenger plane - the Boeing 40C - for Pacific Air Transport’s scheduled run from Medford to Portland. Donaldson peered under the low ceilings from the open cockpit while passenger D.P. Donovan, a diamond broker headed to Seattle, was tucked in the warm, wood–paneled cabin.

Parts of the Boeing were stuffed in local barns and the tail cone was converted to a “jungle gym” for the children of Canyonville. Scavengers scoured the site for years and rumors of diamond finds continued for decades. Eventually, the forest enveloped the remains.

Addison Pemberton of Spokane, Washington dreamed that he would someday own a Boeing 40, but by 1980, only two Model 40 Boeings survived… and both were in museums and non-flyable. Addison knew the story of the Canyonville crash and spent years searching for the wreckage without luck. Fortunately, Oregon Aviation Historical Society member and geologist Ron Bartley had been to the site as a child. In 1993, he found it again, and along with other historical society members, recovered more than 200 pieces from the mountain. When the group realized restoration of the Boeing was a much bigger project than they could accomplish, and knowing of Addison’s reputation for the highest-quality restorations, they sold a truckload of burned parts to him.

Addison Pemberton was a great choice to do the restoration. He is a very skillful pilot and IA, he has a first-class shop, and his wife and two adult sons love airplanes as much as he does. By visiting museums and consulting with William Boeing, Jr., Addison compiled a stack of blueprints, plans and other documents to re-construct the wreck from the mountain into a fully-certified airplane, with a very minor parts contribution from the original.

By the way, sometime during the project, a lady from Salem, Oregon, appeared at the Pemberton hangar on Felts Field in Spokane and confirmed the diamond-salvaging rumors. Rita Brown showed Addison the diamond ring on her finger which she said was her mother’s engagement ring. Her father had recovered the ring’s diamond from the crash site.

Eight years, 62 volunteers, 18 thousand hours of labor, 416 hangar meals (prepared by his wife, Wendy, who is a master at fabric work), 7400 paper plates, 104 gallons of tomato sauce, one thousand bread rolls, 221 gallons of dope and reducer, 6 gallons of epoxy, 120 yards of Ceconite, 12 gallons of metal paint, 350 paint brushes, 181 rolls of paper towels, 33,000 individual wing parts and the commitment and encouragement of family and friends, Addison Pemberton’s dream came true.

As the sun started breaking through the clouds, Addison Pemberton pushed in the throttle to roar the Pratt & Whitney supercharged radial piston engine to life. He then pulled the wheel back on the big, silver Boeing 40C bearing the same numbers as the Donaldson plane on that foggy day in 1928. Only this time, he rose into blue skies and fluffy white clouds at Felts Field in Spokane for a flight terminating with a much happier landing… and to the applause of a huge crowd of supporters.

Future stops for the Boeing 40 are air shows at Oshkosh, Blakesburg and Broadhead. Addison will fly the original transcontinental airmail route of New York to San Francisco this summer.

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