Why are THEY there?

This is a CASA C-212, a Spanish built light transport.
This is a DC-3/C-47, the Douglas Racer. I know part of the story on this one.
An Antonov-24.


Almost all the airports in this country feature one or more abandoned, derelict airplanes somewhere near the ramp or the runway. The larger the airport, the more there are. They range in size from a 4 seat Beechcraft to the mighty Antonov 12 and the mightier Boeing 707.
They add a lot of color to the scene, archeological artifacts in the making.

When you drive through the mid-western U.S., you see many old empty farmhouses and homesteads. They always caused me to wonder about the story behind the ruin. What family lived there, raised their children there, lived or lost their dream there? I think the same when I see these airplanes.

How did a CASA C-212 get to a field near the west coast of Africa with a broken landing gear and no engines? What kind of adventurers flew it and what did they do? Probably adventurers with no business sense and less money but it is fun to think that they were men to tell tales about.

The C-47/DC-3 I do know something about. The airplane is in quite good condition with many spare parts and 2 extra engines. The neat thing about it is it is almost unchanged from the day it left the Douglas factory. The crew stations are as they were with the same WWII instuments and fixtures. Only a very few new radios were added and nothing was removed. It is like a museum piece.

The word at the airport is the airplane belonged to the Kennedy family and they sold it to Mobutu, the former President of Zaire. There came a time when he didn't need it anymore and it got sold to the present owners. The truth of this I cannot verify but it is the kind of history this airplane should have.