Word's Largest Weathervane

Katy on the Tundra
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Word's Largest Weathervane
Word's Largest Weathervane

In Whitehorse, YT Canada, right on the Alaska Highway.


The worlds largest Weathervane, A Douglas DC-3 airplane sits on a pedestal in front of the Yukon Transportation Museum (where it was moved to in summer of 2009).

The title of “The Worlds Largest Weathervane” isn’t just a joke. Placed on a specially engineered pedestal in 1981, the plane truly does slowly and silently pivot and move with the breeze (it only takes a 5 knot wind to turn her), so that her nose is always pointing into the wind as if in a perpetual, never-ending flight.

Bought in April 1946 by Canadian Pacific Airlines, the plane served as a military cargo plane, a civilian plane, and later as a “bush plane.” In truly Canadian style the plane was outfitted with skis so that it might land on remote snowy plains to deliver supplies. The DC-3 flew her last flight in November 1970 before being donated to the Yukon Flying Club in 1977. Though the DC-3 has been downgraded to the status of weathervane, as far as the fate of retired planes go, flying forever into the oncoming wind is a pretty good last gig.

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Taken on: April 19, 2017
Sets appears in:   • Sky & Weather 2017    • April 2017    more » • Canada    « less
Groups appears in:   • WUnderFriends (nature&weather)   
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