First introduced in 1950, the Woo-Nam airliner placed in service for the Seoul-Kwangju-Gunsan route, operated by the first domestic airline, was the prelude to the nation’s history of airlines. The monumental DC-3 aircraft ‘Woo-Nam’ serviced as a passenger plane during the era of Korean National Airlines (KNA) and crossed the Pacific Ocean for the first time in October 1955.
Having completed a total of 36,216 hours of flight in 1971, ‘Woo-Nam’ was retired from active service, and was donated by the founder of KNA, Mr. Joon-Hoon Cho of Inha Academy, to the university for the purpose of perpetuation, exhibition and teaching resource.
Transportation of ‘Woo-Nam’ to the university was not easy. The vice-secretary general, Mr. Hae-Soo Lee, who dismantled and transported it says, “It was transported during the no-thoroughfare hours then, and we had to undergo inspection of Kyungin Highway and transportation roads 5 times and compute the estimated time of transportation. Authorities such as the Korea Electric Power Corporation provided support by removing obstacles on the roads and so on.” Back in 1970 when air travel was not as popular as now, the citizens and children of the Incheon area swarmed to see it.
‘Woo-Nam’ aircraft, spreading its silvery arms on the grass next to the main hall, was manufactured by the US Douglas A/C Inc. its specifications being: a registration number of HL-2002, 23 seats, 28.95m-long wings, 19.63m-long trunk, wing surface of 92㎡, a total weight of 11.420kg, maximum speed of 368kn/H, service ceiling of 7,010m, and a flying range of 2,420km.
The iconic ‘Woo-Nam’ further took its role in Inha history by becoming the pen name of Dr. Syng man Rhee, the founder of Inha University. Today, “Woo-Nam” continues to symbolize Inha University’s past as an engineering college and its future as pioneers in aerospace and high technology sciences.