Northeast Airlines Douglas DC-3  NC28323             (c/n  2253)

                                       

                                           Northeast has the distinction of being the first U.S.domestic airline (as opposed to, say, Pan
                                           American) to conduct overseas flights on a regular schedule.  This occured during WW II when
                                           the airline began carrying passengers and freight from Presque Isle to Iceland via Gander and
                                           Bluie West 1.  It also ran services within Iceland itself to position troops in anticipation of an
                                           enemy invasion of that strategic island.   NC28283 seen above in this NEA photograph was an
                                           ex American Airlines machine purchased in 1944.   It was in June of that year that the CAB
                                           allowed Northeast to service the imporatant Boston to New York City route.  In 1945 Northeast
                                           purchased the small Boston based Mayflower Airlines which then added the communities of Cape
                                           Cod and Nantucket Island to its route structure.