Any fans of the Douglas DC-3?

italiansport said:
The last time I flew on one of these was island hopping down in the Caribbean. I don't know if they're still in use down there or not.
Jim
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Yup. Would been mid '70s IIRC. Leaving St Thomas to go back to Puerto Rico we go out on the tarmac & "WHOA!" :D Hadn't flown in one since the '60s. My mom worked for AA so I spent quite a few flights in 'em.
 
In Burma during WWII, those things carried everything from rice to troops to mules. The RAF called them Dakotas.

The only complaints that I've seen on them were from paratroops who were dropped from too low an altitude in the Normandy invasion. But that was pilot error. Read: pilot terror, of flak and heavy small arms fire.
 
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My very first flight was in a Marine C-47 (but I think they called it something else) in 1961 (maybe 1962, not sure) between Cherry Point and NOTC in China Lake CA, with a few stops along the way. I remember sitting on web seats the whole way. Who could forget such an experience.
 
Too many hours ridin in those in the early 70's at MCAS El Toro. Later on, Futema MCAS on Okinawa had the last 2. I flew in one of those up to Japan. That was it's last flight.
 
June 15, 1962. Flew from Amarillo to Ft Leonard Wood on a Tree Top Airlines DC-3. Tree Top Airlines was the nick name for Trans-Texas Airlines which latter became Texas International Airlines.
 
Dennis said:
Too many hours ridin in those in the early 70's at MCAS El Toro. Later on, Futema MCAS on Okinawa had the last 2. I flew in one of those up to Japan. That was it's last flight.
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Miss Iwakuni (C-117D) ended up on a pedestal at MCAS El Toro in the late 1980's. Wonder where she went when they closed El Toro.
 
My second commercial airline flight was in a DC-3. From Denver to Colorado Springs. Flight attendant was in the head the entire flight as we followed the front range.
 
The only time I recall flying in a DC3 was from Montgomery, AL to Jackson, MS.
But the C-47, have flown many a mile in many parts of the world.
 
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This DC-3 is based in Topeka's Combat Air Museum. In the 80s a bunch of guys would pony up for fuel and they would fly it up to Oshkosh. My son took the trip twice. On one trip the pilot asked him if he thought he could fly it? My son was 18 at the time and knew he could do anything, so he said he thought he probably could. He took the controls and the pilot told him where to bring the plane around to. He then said that they had just bombed a bridge in Iowa.

My son went on to serve in the Navy as a REO on an EA6-B off the Nimitz for two tours. He just retired from the Navy reserve last year.
 
I commanded the Army CH-54 (flying crane) company at Ft. Benning in the mid-70's. We picked up the C-47 from Lawson AAF to the airborne field where the 250 foot jump towers are and the aircraft still sits there.
 
My late uncle flew the "Hump" in the CBI theater of WWII. Mostly the Douglas C-47 and some Curtiss C-46's. Most often the cargo doors were off. I guess noisy and windy was the norm.
 
Just a few years ago I saw as C-47 which had been re-engined and had two turbo-prop engines. It sure had a lot more power than the piston engines!
 
Their history is amazing. They were about a tough as anything ever.

Stories of DC-2 smaller main wings field expedited repairs in China and they flew with a large and smaller wing.

This one amazes me, this plane has been around since the 30's, that is 85 years. And large numbers of them are still flying. What other air plane has this record?

My gut feeling is, one could find a complete one sitting at the end of a junk pile, put in new batteries, fuel, fire it up and fly it.
 
I had a ride in one from San Antonio to Cheyenne (Lackland to Warren)
in May 1952. I believe they are rated for 32 in passenger configuration,
but my memory tells me there were a hell of a lot more than 32 crammed
in it on that flight. I remember how is shook, rattled, rolled, sqeaked,
and groaned as it rolled down the runway on it's take off run, but it
surprised us and took off and made it all the way. (over a thousand
miles) in roughly 5 hours.
 
I have many, many hours under my belt in a Super DC 3. The wings were different, allowing shorter take off/landing, the tail was more square, and the engines were changed out from R1830's to R1820's. The 1820 had considerably more grunt and was a single row vs. double row. The Navy called them C 117's. We had several in my squadron in Corpus Christi configured as air navigation trainers. They would go forever as long as you flew them every day. OTOH, let one sit for a week, and it might never fly again! Just before I transferred to a jet squadron, the Navy decided it was no longer necessary to change the oil in the R1820. Just keep adding and change the filter every so often. They leaked that bad. During preflight inspection, if there wasn't a puddle of oil under both engines, the aircraft was down until the oil had been checked.
Lost an engine on one over the Gulf one day. It was looking for a few minutes like we might have to ditch it. Then the other engine smoothed out and we made it on in to Pensacola without further incident. After landing, we had to wait on the runway for a tow truck. Hard to taxi a tail dragged on one engine.
 
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I also found this amongst some old pics from my wife's dad. He took this picture in New Guinea while they were up there doing some missionary work back in '65. I thought it was just a neat pic. (yes, I'm a fan of the DC-3!)
TAA%20DC-3%20in%20New%20Guinea%201965_zpsppxb1wad.jpg
 
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I remember my dad flying these during his time in the Air Force, along with the C-124 and C-118. My first ride was 1971 while in the Navy. The R-1820 was a helluva engine, I flew the T-28 with that R-1820.
 
As I recall my brief experience--a few minutes when I was eighteen--at the controls of a C-47, it felt like flying a three-car garage. Very stable and steady.

Damn good thing, too. I was tempted to try to put the bird in a flat spin, just so see what would happen. :D :D
 
Ever heard of Spooky?

Nothing like triple 7.62 mike mike minis to rain hellfire down upon the enemy!! :D
 
Fat Frank said:
I also found this amongst some old pics from my wife's dad. He took this picture in New Guinea while they were up there doing some missionary work back in '65. I thought it was just a neat pic. (yes, I'm a fan of the DC-3!)
TAA%20DC-3%20in%20New%20Guinea%201965_zpsppxb1wad.jpg
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Gotta love a plane with huge French doors in the side. :D
 
I remember watching DC-3's going and coming from Byrd Airport (Richmond, Va) as a kid in the 50's and 60's. We lived maybe 10 miles or so, maybe less as the crow flies from the airport. They were probably Piedmont Airlines mostly. I remember them being light blue and white.
 
CajunBass said:
I remember watching DC-3's going and coming from Byrd Airport (Richmond, Va) as a kid in the 50's and 60's. We lived maybe 10 miles or so, maybe less as the crow flies from the airport. They were probably Piedmont Airlines mostly. I remember them being light blue and white.
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I flew on Piedmont DC-3's a number of times. Pretty good small airline.
 
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