Douglas DC-3 plane famous as Mangaweka tea room up for sale

The plane - minus its wings - currently sits on top of containers in Shannon. Photo / Darryl Butler

The owner of the Douglas DC-3 plane that stood at Mangaweka for more than 35 years has been swamped with interest since putting it on the market.

Brendon “Mintie” Cottle moved the plane to Shannon in 2021 after buying the site at Mangaweka on State Highway 1.

Now, it can be yours for “less than a tiny home”, he says.

Cottle said he had received hundreds of messages since listing the plane earlier this week for $85,000.

“It will enhance someone’s business big time,” he said.

“You’re going to need someone with an imagination. It lends itself perfectly to an Airbnb – just by the word ‘air’.”

The plane was built in 1945 at the Douglas plant in Oklahoma City, in the United States.

It spent time with the Royal New Zealand Air Force and New Zealand National Airways and served as a topdresser with FieldAir in Palmerston North.

The DC-3′s last flight was in 1981. It arrived at Mangaweka five years later to begin its next chapter, as a tea room.

Cottle said we would have liked to house the plane in a building but he didn’t have the time or resources to do that.

“It’s on containers at the moment but it’s still the most photographed thing on State Highway 57. It’s crazy.”

There had been “a bit of negative stuff” from members of the public after he removed the wings. They are still at Mangaweka but will be sold along with the body.

“People said I ruined it but you have to take them off to move it – it’s 29 metres wide,” Cottle said.

The plane was still in pretty good condition with “good bones” but it needed a bit of an overhaul.

There had already been one interested party from overseas. “They’re really keen for it to be in their museum or something like that. Personally, I think it should be inside,” Cottle said.

“For me, I’ve got other projects I want to do, one is getting this blimmin’ pub [next to the plane in Shannon] up and running.”

– Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.