The old red plane, Bahia Feliz, Gran Canaria, Spain

First, let me show you the neighborhood. We're on the island of Gran Canaria, part of the Canary Islands of Spain, off the coast of Africa, and this is near a little village along the south-eastern coastline, Bahia Feliz....

If you look above the combination airport and racecourse, near that light-colored rectangular spot, but slightly above and to the left of that, you'll notice a tiny red spot in this aerial photo view...... and that's the old red plane!

And it looks like this. They describe it for the photo as a "DC7", but if you'll notice the length of pipe hanging down from the tip of the tail, and the distance between the main landing gear and that tip of the tail, this is more likely a DC6B and I say that because the DC6B had that pipe hanging from the tail for a reason. The reason being that on take-offs, and sometimes landings, it was too easy to drag that tail on the runway. So they hung about six feet of 2-inch pipe from the end of it, and when that began to drag on the ground, the pilot knew it was time to adjust the attitude to level it out a bit more, before damaging the aircraft. And it worked, because  as you see, it still has its complete tail.

This plane was first pointed out to me by "Monsieur Beep" who visits the island quite often, and has taken pictures of it himself. And if you're reading this, Monsieur Beep, please say 'hello'..... it's been quite a while now since we chatted. And that's the story of the old red plane. And it's still there.