Film ”Into The Blue”

Myth busters at work: no James Bond movie... but a 2005 movie with Scott Caan, Paul Walker and a rather delectable Jessica Alba

One has to consider the fact that quite a number of DC-3s/C-47s have been last seen here but their fate remain obscure:
HI-463 (9635), last reported here 1988.
N22KN (14738/26183) was scrapped here sometime after 1990, but to what extend?
N55KN (4936), reported derelict at Nassau in 1993 and parted out
VP-BBN (16411/33159), destroyed here but again: to what extend?
N7709 (12093), last noted derelict at Nassau, fate?

Martin's update (30Jun11):
'N68363 c/n 20238 (registered as N786T, derelict as N68363) removed from Puerto Rico (fuselage loaded onto a flat bed trailer) 10Nov03, sunk off Bahamas 14Jan04.'

In a follow up Martin wrote me the following:
"I did save the image that was previously on the Stuart Cove website:

In Sep.2007 following message from the diving club was sent to me:
"The James Bond wrecks are made up of two separate movie props.
In the 1960's the movie Thunderball was filmed. A movie set of a fighter plane that could lift straight up into the sky was placed in 40 feet of water. It was made of canvas and pipe. The canvas has long since disappeared, but soft and hard corals have completely covered the pipe.
In the 1980's the movie Never Say Never was filmed. For this movie a 90 foot long boat was placed about 40 feet south of the Thunderball set, in the same sand hole."
Pamela

Jacques Boulogne of aviation-antilles.blogspot.com/ sent me the following link, with images of the submerging taking place:
picasaweb.google.com/DietrichMasters/IntoTheBlueBahamasWork# (Dec.2018: dead link)

Martin Pole posted in Jan.2011 an update of his research:
"Since visiting the Bahamas in August 1998 I have been trying to identify the DC-3/C-47 used as a welcoming sign gate guard at the entrance to Nassau Airport. The fuselage was titled 'Welcome To The Islands Of The Bahamas' and a logo on the tail fin and rudder that read "it's hip to hop to the Bahamas". The wings, engine cowlings and lower fuselage were painted dark blue, the upper fuselage, nosecone, tail fin & rudder were white. A thin light blue cheat line ran the length of the fuselage. This smart looking DC-3 was probably purpose painted.

Despite not having had any prior knowledge of this airframe (not mentioned in my well thumbed accompanying copy of Survivors 97). I couldn't obtain any answers from the airport, as the day I choose to take photographs unfortunately coincided with the airport manager's day off (although his staff were helpful).
I was sure that this would be well documented somewhere back home - Wrong!

This DC-3/C-47 had combined features that made it distinctive, I would be able recognize it again instantly! I started by eliminating all the derelict and withdrawn from use airframes that had been reported in the area, this also involving buying images blind from negative lists.

Six years & thousands of images later, I couldn't believe how this airframe had been so camera shy! A major setback occurred in 2004 when this DC-3 was dismantled and removed for use by film makers, and worse still: underwater. Any hopes of inspecting the plates were now gone.
Three DC-3/C-47 airframes were used in the film and submerged; the film was called 'Into The Blue'. They were apparently given names "Sunshine" " Jose" and the former welcome sign being named "Kalik"

Ruud Leeuw wrote in 2007 (top of this page):  'The 'Jose'-named aircraft I have been unable to trace as yet'
The ID for this should be N68363 c/n 20238  (registered as N786T //FAA Register entry 28 June 2009 but was never carried\\ - derelict as N68363) .

The breakthrough came after twelve years! 
I obtained an image taken by the late Mark Twigg at New Tamiami, in June 1984, showing a starboard side view of  N4683U ....a match at last !

Using the FAA Registry, and serial quoted, gave me c/n 10111.
A bit of searching lead me to the Aeroflight web site, this gave c/n 10111 as Panamanian Air Force 201 delivered 17Jan1969,  sold in Feb.1984 (fitting in well with the image taken in June 1984); Aeroflight quoted the following as references:-  Central American and Caribbean Air Forces (Daniel Hagedorn)  & Latin-American Military Aviation (John Andrade).

My next task was to obtain an image of FAP 201, preferably one taken from the port side to hopefully match more identifying features.  A major distinguishing feature of the Nassau DC-3 was a low level luggage door aft of the large cargo-loading doors.
I obtained two slides of FAP 201 (one with later revised markings and serial presentation).  The features of 201 in both images matched the Nassau machine and clearly showed the luggage door. 

Referring back to my own images taken at Nassau, I now noticed some red paint showing through on the top of the rudder, this would be where the red paint of the Panamanian flag would have been.

The Air Britain publication DC-1, DC-2, DC-3 The First Seventy Years gives the history of c/n 10111 and suggests  that it may have gone to the Panamanian Air Force.  However this book along with other publications and databases call this into doubt  by giving the subsequent registration of N4683U as c/n 10131, can anyone explain why?  HP-1178CTH also comes into play although this registration was probably bogus!

I would welcome any further information regarding the  c/n's 10111/10131.
Does anyone remember why the FAA official identity for N4683U was called into doubt? 
Speculation: was the luggage door a feature of its previous airline life in Venezuela , and  therefore  the c/n  is 10111 ?  

Concluding fact; FAP-201, N4683U, The Nassau Airport Welcoming Sign Gate Guard are all the same airframe.

Obviously my main objective was to Identify the Nassau 'Gate Guard', however I just happened upon the I.D. for "Jose" during the vast elimination process. This brings me on to "Sunshine" I believe this to be the airframe in the attached image (I saved the set of images - just as well as your link is now dead).
The nose has an interesting bump aft of the radome (I believe it's on both sides) they look a bit like navigation lights? They do seem to be lights and it seems to be a TC-47 thing! See:
www.airliners.net/photo/1538767/L/
www.airliners.net/photo/1131172/L/
www.airliners.net/photo/1123187/L/

It's a shame that the c/n is not clear cut, but at least we have some of her history for now.