الداكوتا.. وفاء الحفيد للجد

With each anniversary of the Saudi National Day, the image of the "Dakota" aircraft, which left the sky and settled on the ground, is renewed in the memory of aviation. This small plane has become a significant legacy that summarizes the beginnings of a nation that rose from the arid deserts to the edges of the clouds.

The "Dakota aircraft" stands in the hearts of Saudis as a witness to the first leap into the future, where the story of aviation began with a single plane that transformed into a boundless air network.

The most beautiful account documented about this historical aircraft is the work published by Prince Sultan bin Salman with Michael Saba (A Plane from History: King Abdulaziz and His Pilot), by the Heritage Foundation.

The book consists of 168 large-format pages, and it not only documents the journey of the aircraft but an entire era through detailed accounts of the great founder King Abdulaziz's interest in aviation, and about the American pilot Joe Grant, around whom the chapters of the book revolve from his piloting of the DC-3 in 1945 until his death in 2010.

On every page of the book, rare images and documented information extend, embodying a great story of loyalty.

In the introduction, we find documents narrating the beginnings of aviation in the Kingdom, from simple runways in the desert to the features of the first renaissance, and the construction of airports that became gateways to a new world. Captain Joe captured many beautiful photos of passenger movement on the dirt runways and of the aircraft among the sands, and over time, his images transformed into stars illuminating the memory of the nation.

The book addresses the phase of renewing the aircraft after it had been neglected for many years, during which it accumulated 32,000 flight hours and remained on the ground for ten years without care. In 1987, it was decided to convert it into an exhibition hall, so it underwent restoration work, and then it was stored at the Air Force base in Riyadh.

Later, on the occasion of the centenary of the Kingdom's founding, the aircraft returned for a third restoration phase, which included dismantling it, transporting it, and operating its engines before it returned to the skies. The renewal work was entrusted to the Royal Air Force, and the project was executed on national soil until the aircraft finally settled among the collections of the Saqr Al-Jazira Aviation Museum in Riyadh.

At the end of the book, there is an emotional scene when Captain Joe returned with his family to Saudi Arabia in 2009 at the invitation of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz (may God have mercy on him), where he met the king and several princes and personalities, and received an honor from Saudi Airlines and the Aviation Club, before returning to his country, where he passed away a year later at the age of 98.

This book, with its meanings of loyalty, is not just a document about an aircraft but a testament to the spirit of the great founder King Abdulaziz, may God rest his soul, and a manifestation of the deep feelings that reside in the hearts of Saudis towards him. What the grandson wrote about his grandfather was not a personal expression, but a translation of the sentiments of an entire nation that sees in King Abdulaziz a symbol of its unity.

On the ninety-fifth National Day, we read the story of Saudi aviation that intertwines with the story of the entire nation, a pride born from the desert soaring above the clouds... returning every year to build a tent in hearts and an aircraft that takes us on a journey filled with feelings of gratitude and loyalty.