By Aldrich M. Tan • July 26, 2008

In 1928, a Boeing 40C crashed eight miles south of Canyonville, Ore. The pilot, who survived, never flew again.

But the plane still does. And this year, it is flying to Oshkosh.

Addison Pemberton, a plane owner/restorer from Spokane, Wash., restored the plane. He did it to share the plane's historical significance as the first successful airliner in the U.S. to carry cargo and passengers commercially.

"It is a real tribute to Boeing engineering and insight," Pemberton said. "These guys were visionaries."

The plane will be on display near the south edge of Theater in the Woods on the grounds. The plane is 33 feet long and has a 45-foot wingspan. It weights 6,100 pounds.

The pilot sits in an open cockpit at the rear of the airplane. Four people can fit inside the plane in a closed cabin ahead of the pilot. There is also a mail compartment that can carry 750 pounds of mail and cargo.

It all started in 1982 when Pemberton visited the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, where one of the few remaining Boeing 40C planes is on display.

The plane motivated him to do research on what happened to the other planes. Most of the Boeings were salvaged and destroyed. Two are in museums. Seven are out of the country.

But there was one plane that was still missing from his list. Pemberton had spent eight years trying to find that plane and gave up.

Then, in 2000, Pemberton learned that the Oregon Aviation Historical Society had salvaged the missing plane — the crashed Boeing 40C found in Canyonville. He bought the remnants of the crash and the title from the OAHC.

Bringing the plane back was an emotional experience for Pemberton. His company spent 18,000 hours and eight years restoring the plane. The first flight was on February 17, which is also Pemberton's birthday. It was the first time that the plane flew in 80 years.

"It was very rewarding," he said. "The airplane is very conventional in control and stability with surprising performance."

After Oshkosh, the Boeing 40C will make stops in Blakesburg, Iowa and Brodhead, Wis. Then, the restored plane will be part of a historical airmail re-enactment of a transcontinental airmail flight from New York to San Francisco this September.