Flagship Knoxville DC3

Take a glimpse – and a step – inside the largest piece in the CR Smith Museum collection: a meticulously restored 1940 Douglas DC-3 aircraft called the “Flagship Knoxville”! Aboard the aircraft, you can get a real sense of what air travel was like in the 1940’s when C.R. Smith and the DC-3 revolutionized commercial air travel. The retired aircraft was purchased by The Grey Eagles, an American Airlines retiree group, restored by retired and active American Airlines team members, and presented to the museum. Initially on display outdoors, a special hangar addition to the museum was built in 1999 to house this special piece of history and protect it from the elements.