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Vintage DC-3 Works for Food

Compton Airport offers another unique way to entice visitors to stop and learn.

Only in California, some might say, could you expect to find a vintage DC-3 transformed into a fund-raising tool/restaurant. But that’s just what visitors to Tomorrow’s Aviation Museum on the Compton Airport in Los Angeles will see when they stop in. With some assistance from American Airlines, a DC-3 fuselage found in a Nevada boneyard has been transformed into an eatery nicknamed the “DC-3 Gourmet Food Truck.” In a story, published on the AirlineGeeks, the site said, “The food truck’s livery features a similar polished aluminum livery donned by American’s flagship DC-3 in the 1940s, except that this one pays tribute to the City of Compton. The nose of the DC-3 food truck also features the words, Flagship Compton.”

Much of the DC-3’s original interior was removed to make way for a gourmet kitchen that offers tempting meals for less than $20 each. The food truck, sitting next to the facility, also offers an open area for outside dining for visitors to enjoy the experience. A few lucky patrons can find themselves dining inside the old airliner’s cockpit, the major feature of the airplane that was left intact during the upgrades.

dc3 gourmet
The DC-3 Gourmet Food Truck offers meals for less than $20. Albert Kuan/AirlineGeeks

The food truck is sponsored by American Airlines’ Regional Council in LA and serves as a fundraising tool for the museum, started a decade ago by helicopter pilot Robin Petgrave. He organized TAM, which is more of an educational facility than a museum, to impact young people, mostly from low-income inner city families, through aviation. Through TAM, Petgrave captures kids’ imaginations while promoting the importance of education.

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