What you Didn’t Know about the Amazing DC-3!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2024
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We have seen that the Comet was the first jetliner, and that the 707 was the jet that defined the shape of several generations of jetliners that followed. But before all this, there was a humble piston-engined aircraft that managed to persevere for years, AFTER the arrival of the jet age.
Not only that, but for at least one generation, maybe more, this was THE aircraft that everyone got their first taste of flying in. Either in peace, or at war. And if some of these planes stick around for another decade and a half or so, they could be flying for ONE - HUNDRED - YEARS.
This is the story of the iconic and wonderful Douglas DC-3 - and how it almost didn’t leave the drawing board.
Stay tuned!
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Below you will find the links to videos and sources used in this episode.
• Douglas C-47 Skytrain ...
• Sky High: The Story of...
• Boeing Model 247 Airli...
• Boeing 247
• Boeing and United Airl...
• Boeing Model 247 Numbe...
• First 25 Years Of McDo...
• Douglas B-18 Bolo in t...
• C-47A "Skytrain" Walkt...
• Lisunov Li-2 Soviet WW...
• Douglas DC-3 Assembly ...
• Douglas DC3 Dakota, 19...
Go to ground.news/MentourNow to stay fully informed on breaking news, compare coverage and avoid media bias. Sign up for free or subscribe through my link before July 1 for 30% off unlimited access if you support the mission and find it as useful as I do.
21:43 Although the DC3 is described as an all metal airplane, it had fabric covered control surfaces. I was surprised the first time I was close to one, while I was taking flight instruction in 1968.
FYI, the K in Knute in silent so it's pronounced 'Newt Rock-knee'
Petter, another great video.
I'm wondering, could you do one on the also much loved and still in use Pilatus Porter?
We used to get carried around Papua new Guinea when I was a baby in the 60s by them and they're still flying up there today 🙂👍
Ground news is already skewed. All articles belong at least one column to the left.
@@edwardloebl3278 That was common in that era. I know the C54/ DC4 also had fabric controls. In 1961 wile stationed at RAF Bovingdon I was loaned to the fabric shop. The spare C47 fight controls in the warehouse (Denham Studios) were testing bad. The fabric used was grade A cotton. I had the same thought you must have. I told one of the NCOs it looked flimsy. He walked me out to the hanger bay. He held the rudder on an aircraft and told me to punch it. Well I could not damage it. Each individual part of an aircraft looks flimsy. Assembled they act together and do the job. The problem with fabric is mold or UV. The UV is blocked by the aluminum powder in the upper dope layers. A lot has been done by patented polyester fabric processes and fabric covereing can last much longer.
.
The good old Diesel 3. It's what I got my professional wings in. I retired a long time ago, and now I'm too deaf, blind, and forgetful to fly anything. But shoot that was a wonderful bird. I eventually graduated to Convair 580's, and finished up on the first generation of 737's. I'd be lost in the cockpit of a modern 737. To me, GPS almost seems like cheating. Aviation just gets better and safer all the time. Glad you young pups have it like you do. Bet you'll be as amazed as I am when you get to be my age. Life is one big gee whiz.
Awesome to have you here on the channel, it’s an honor sir.
Great comment Chompy much respect
My first flight as a passenger was on a Frontier Airlines Convair 580 from Powell, Wyoming to Billings, Montana USA in 1960. I was six years old. That began my love affair with flying. I was waaay too nearsighted to qualify as a pilot back in the day, so I have just spent a significant portion of my disposable income on tickets ever since 😂 Thank you, sir, for being one who flew the rest of us around the world. We are grateful.
I salute you, Sir!
@@mosessupposes2571 FrontTire is the carrier which I used to fly for. In 1960 I was flying the 580, but mostly out of the now non-existent Stapleton International Airport which was for awhile our hub of operations. I mostly flew a milk run from Stapleton to Lincoln, NE via every town on the way, or flew over the continental divide from Stapleton to Gunnison, CO, and then on to Montrose and Grand Junction. In those days and in the smaller airlines, the fellas at the top used us more like railroads in the sky than airlines. I remember hearing one old timer explain that the reason they called our short hop stop at every small town a milk run was that at one time, they literally picked up cans of milk, eggs, and other produce, and flew them to the bigger cities for processing. If they drove them there, it took to long, and between the amount of time it took and the heat of the Great Plains in the summer, they'd loose a lot shipping it on a surface route. It was cooler up at altitude, and much faster, so stuff would get there in much better condition. They didn't have factory farms back then, and there wasn't nearly the amount of goods going from point A to point B, so they could do that and not need a special cargo flight. By the time I was into it, they weren't shipping milk that way anymore, but I do remember carrying baby chicks for ranchers, and on one occasion we had to share the cabin with some guy's prize boar which was on its way to the Nebraska State Fair in Lincoln. In the DC-3 we only had a curtain between us and the passenger area. That pig stunk up the cabin so bad our eyes were watering even up in the cockpit. I think just about every passenger complained, and so did I. I got on the horn to corporate and told 'em how the cows ate the cabbage, and that they should probably require people to charter an aircraft in future if they wanted to ship livestock any bigger than a dog or a cat or else we were going to lose market share to United (which was our primary competition at the time). They ended up doing just that, and for many years the winning bull which was kept for a few days at the Brown Palace Hotel had a sign in front of it which said, "Flown to Denver on Frontier Airlines." Before that we hadn't flown cattle, but it worked out great because the Ranchers were proud to have a prize bull that was worth flying to Denver and Back on an airplane. They'd make their kids hitch hike to college, but nothing was too good for their prize bull.
Get me going and I'll go all day. Guess I'd better quit before I bore people right off their rockers.
May the angels fly on your shoulders.
"In 1957, a USAF DC-3 ran out of gas over Missouri. Everyone bailed out and made it to the ground safely. The DC-3 glided over the horizon and made a perfect, UNASSISTED LANDING IN A CORNFIELD!!!" What a great aircraft.
Thanks Mentour, what a wonderful history of a wonderful airplane.
WOW!
AN-2: Challenge accepted 😅
Wow!
As did the "Cornfield Bomber" Delta Dart F-106 that landed in a Montana cornfield after the pilot bailed out. It was still running and suffered only minor damage. After it was repair it went back into service.
Who needs autopilot?
My mother's first flights were in a DC-3, between England and Rhodesia. It took three days or so. The pilot went low-level in places, so the passengers could see some game.
Wow! Awesome
@@gordonfreeman1359”erm, wrong exit Captain”
I flew for Air Rhodesia too, on the DC3. 29 seats, I cabin crew, 2 pilots. When we took veterans anywhere they used to sing and bang their feet on the floor….the floor was wood and they had to desist at risk of going through it.
Wonderful aircraft. Thanks for article.
Yeah, video games are great. Game? What?! These years were analog as hell. Games?
@@6666munchione of my relatives may have shot down a Rhodesian C47
When a modern airliner flies to the scrapyard finally, a DC-3 will wait to bring the pilots back home.
Flew in a C-47 a few years ago with my Dad for his birthday. Since he was a WW2 vet they had him sign his name inside. It was truly a great experience for our family. Love you Dad RIP.
A fitting tribute!
😢
😢 I understand what you mean !
Aww 🥰. God bless our WWII Vets.
This plane, DC3 has a very special place in my childhood memory. It was used very widely in my country in Asia during the 1960s. I remember very fondly my first ride on a DC 3 along with my mother. I was probably eight years old then. It flew quite low, hugging the mountains and the valleys, the pilots obviously were flying by terrain visual mappaing in this mountainous country. The biggest surprise and treat was when I as an eight year old boy then was invited in to the cockpit by the captain who was an American or a Canadian and who went by the name of " captain King". I sat on a stool just behind and in between the captain and the co pilot. There is one particular incident that as I recall now that frightens me. The captain actually smoked during the flight and not only that he flicked open the side small window and threw out the butt at the end of his smoking session. Just behind that window was I could see the propellar. I did not think much of that incident then but now when I understand its implications, it frightens the shit out if me. I also remember that at the beginning of the flight we were offered sweets (lemon drops) and cotton wool (ear plugs, due to high level of sound inside). DC 3 sound is like a continuous drone during flight and definitely needs those cotton plugs.
It is said that the only plane that could replace a DC-3 is a DC-3
And that’s likely true!
@@MentourNow I believe Basler owns the DC-3 type certificate and can now manufacture original parts, which means they could build whole new ones, although they simply make the parts they need. Now if they could build the R-1830's new, all the rough field operators would be good for the next 100 years. The Basler turbine conversion, a great aircraft, is simply too expensive for the operators.
Il-14
@@caferacer3539 smort
Actually the Convairliners came the closest to replacing the DC-3 with over 1100 aircraft built.
When I was living in Asia, the DC3 was commonly used for short runs such as between Baguio and Manila. I also flew in a DC2 from Vientiane in Laos to Bangkok in 1966. My favorite memory of the DC3 was that the runway at Baguio was too short to really get flying and since it was a mountain top, the plane just flew over the edge and gained speed on the way down until it was able to fly. Scary the first time but interesting after that.😆
My first ride in a DC3 was in 1968. Took off in it but was not in it when it landed
Ya that was my first Jump. AIRBONE
Yes! I was aboard one on a round trip flight from Manila to Baguio in 1989, only way to fly into Baguio Airport even in 1989, it was cold, foggy, and rainy when we landed in Baguio, what a system shock after the sunny heat of Manila
Wow! That made me laugh! I'll bet it was indeed scary the first time. Just drive off a cliff and wait.....ha! I'll bet it was fun after that!
I think this was one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built. Something about the shape.
Fitness for purpose, as my old woodwork teacher used to hammer into us. In other words,if if looks right, it IS right!
The DC-2 and 3 did more to change the world than any other aircraft. They got America flying again after the Knute Rockne tragedy, they helped move both people and freight all over the country, they played a big part in helping win World War II in both theatres, they were in regularly scheduled service longer than any other aircraft, and helped make flying places the transportation method of choice. I also think they were one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built, but I might just be a tiny bit biased, since that was the first bird I piloted commercially. There have been a lot of other great birds designed, but that one really cuts a line on the dance floor.
They sure are pretty. Just sitting in a hanger it looks like it wants to be in air.
Just a happy 😃 looking little plane ✈️
This plane embodies the romance of air travel.
When I was in A&P school, we were told, "You'll never see this when you are out in the field. "...talking about PD Carbs, prop govoners, hydromatic propellers, etc. I paid attention because I loved it. Two years later, my first job was at an airline with 4 DC-3s, a Convair 340, and a Convair 440. Best start to career I could have imagined. ❤️👍
You were SO lucky to get that experience! I flew the DC-3 and Beech 18 in the 1970s and had a total of 4,000 hours combined in those 2 old airplanes. I was also a the chief pilot of a commuter airline, company check airman and ground school instructor and taught radial engines to my pilots. Great experiences, like you had.
In the late sixties I had a flight booked from Seattle to Sacramento. My ride to the airport was late ( I was 14) and I missed the flight. After some scrambling my step-father (my ride) got me a flight to San Francisco with a connection to Sacramento. The Seattle to S.F. leg was a 727. The flight to Sac. was a DC-3. From start up to landing that plane shook and rattled the whole way. Bouncing up and down and side to side. I thought it was going to come apart. I had already flown on several occasions and I wasn't a nervous flyer but that scared the hell out me. My most memorable flight to date.
Statistically it was probably the safest flight you ever took
You were flying in a plane equipped with 70 year old technology. Crude, simple, effective and sometimes unforgiving
An aircraft engineer here in New Zealand reminised that the DC3 was affectionatly referred to as 40,000 rivets flying in formation.
We used to call the Bristol Freighter the same thing in the RNZAF.
Heard this applied to thr Shackleton too!
C130 Hercules 60,000(?) flying rivets, but not always in formation.
Mike, does the letters NAC mean anything to you?
@@itsadogslife...8825 Yep that was what our national airline was called before it became Air New Zealand. NAC National Airways Corporation.. I flew ON NAC, and still remember it well.
Always interesting to hear about the DC3. That was the first airliner I flew when when I joined Trans Australia Airlines (TAA, in 1964). We flew all over Australia including a charter to what was then Portuguese Timor. Two years later I Joined Canadian Pacific Airlines, making the huge jump to the DC8 series. (It was one of CPA's DC8s that broke the sound barrier)
The DC3 was the perfect muscle memory trainer. Some of the cattle station hops involved a dozen different dirt runway landings a day. That tail dragger taught me how to fly. Thank you for the trip down memory lane.
👍💗
DC8. Just as Great! Too bad they scrapped the supersonic one. Love all Douglas aircraft. You're privileged to have flown the 2 best DCs
@@michaelosgood9876 Thanks. By now, I think they would have all been scrapped.
@@aeomaster32 Look up Buffalo Airlines in Arctic Canada.
Thank you for this history lesson. As a boy in Zambia, Air Zambia used DC-3's. We flew from Ndola to Kasaba Bay on the southern tip of Lake Tanzania. On the way we stopped 3 times on grass strips to drop off or pick up passengers. The air field at Kasaba Bay was another grass strip which the pilots first had to buzz to clear the wildlife off so they could land. I have very fond memories of watching the wings bouncing as we trundled down the runway until suddenly they became still as the ground dropped away.
I lived in Yellowknife NWT and had a chance to fly on one of these old birds from Hay River to Yellowknife. As some who has flown many hundreds of times on modern aircraft this flight was incredible. No complimentary headphones but earplugs were recommended.
That is so cool!
As a kid in the 80s, i used to see these land and take off at my hometown airport in Colombia.
Thank you SO much for honoring the lovely DC-3 with this documentary! It has always been my favorite aircraft, even mystically visiting my dreams, placing me inside as a passenger. How I love the DC-3!
1:30 My guess: Since the mags had to be switched *ON* in order for the engines to run, Douglas didn't want them messed with during flight, so they put them far from all the other engine controls.
I think that just about everyone who came of age during the Viet Nam War era remembers the DC-3/C-47 as "Puff the Magic Dragon" ....a truly iconic version!
In the years before the completion of the Interstate Highway System, regional airlines operated the DC3 in the US southeast, and I logged many (passenger) hours. I loved them. In those days business passengers got very nice treatment from the attendants, and passengers who wished to smoke cigarettes---no pipes or cigars please--were encouraged to do so. Even a short hop of 120-150 miles included nice snacks and beverages. Typical fares were $30-40 bucks. What a great memory.
Back in the early '90's I was part of a group that chartered a DC-3 from Sydney's Bankstown airport to a regional airport (for an event) a couple of hundred kilometres away, and back again. The flights were amazing. The plane felt like a bucket of bolts, as the saying goes. The fuselage shook, the windows rattled, and the door seals had rotted to the point where you could see outside. This was the first time I'd been on a propeller aircraft, and I was struck by how quiet the landing was, because there was no jet-engine-reverse-thruster noise. It was a fantastic experience.
✌
In the 1980s I skydived out of DC-3 and manifested loads of skydivers at Rutherford NSW. The pilot was a taxi driver in Maitland and our flights were scheduled around RPT (regular passenger transport) flights at Rutherford. So Miles (who apparently had been flying twin-engine aircraft since 1943) drove taxis, then arrived at the airfield to a see a load of skydivers getting into his aircraft. Then we took off and did a few jumps, till Miles had to go back to his taxi.
As he was also a DC-3 check pilot, Miles also took junior pilots up and had them do procedures after we got out of the aircraft.
So sometimes, the aircraft came back with one or both engines off. A very quiet landing approach, which had our complete attention.
Wonderful days.
th-cam.com/video/P6j5GvXxpFg/w-d-xo.html
Great short history of my favourite airplane. My first ride was from Shearwater NS to Dorval QC in August 1952. Second and last ride was from Whitehorse to Old Crow YK above the circle and back in March 1994. In between, while I was working at EXPO 86, Vancouver's world fair on transportation, I invented the DC-3 Airmada to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the DC-3's entry into commercial service. Two dozen aircraft, organized by Col OB Philp (founder of the RCAF Snowbirds, who had himself been awarded a DFC flying C-47s over the Burma Hump as an eighteen year old), participated in a flyover of the Expo site. The sound of all those round engines was music to me ears! Thanks for the post!
What a marvelous coverage of an aviation legend. Nicely done. The very first web server software we chose came from a guy who was a DC 3 fan who actually owned and flew one of these legendary birds.
I was a Navy mechanic (ADR {Aviation Machinist Mate Reciprocating}) from 1968 to 1971. When I was promoted to ADR3, I became a plane captain on a C-117. Noisy beasts that vibrated you teeth. We used tie-downs to hold our 5 gallon coffee pot, and we had to constantly hold on to our cups or they would fall off the table. The plane was used for pilot training, parachute riggers jumps, and general short hop jobs. Coincidentally, I flew out of La Guadia in NYC in a DC-3. The difference was remarkable. In the C-117, we generally flew at 8,000 ft because we didn't have oxygen and it was very cold up there, especially during jump flights when we didn't have the doors on. We had 18 cylinder R3350 engines and yes, during preflight I would check the mag switches before touching the blades. I never gave it a thought about why they were located up there, so thanks for that. Loved those planes.
That was simply fantastic! Cheers from Sydney, Australia
😎 🇦🇺
In 1983 I flew on a DC-3 out of San Jose Costa Rica over the mountains to a remote landing strip in a jungle. That DC-3 was a great airplane.
This is gotta be one of the most beautiful airplanes ever, just iconic
It certainly is elegant and evocative of a brighter past
Couldn't agree more.
You ain't lying....❤️
Absolutely true!
I’m too young to have flown on this bird, but my mum (born a couple of days before the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour) often recounts the tale of going on her first foreign holiday with my dad to Benidorm (probably in the 70’s), and being horrified at having to get on a DC3 Dakota “warplane”. 🤣 It reminds me that the world was a VERY different place, even within such recent memory. My aviation claim to fame (kinda) was being 2 months away from flying on BA Concorde to Florida for my parents’ milestone wedding anniversary, and my dad suddenly passed away. He went to work one day, had a heart attack, and died. I finally got onto a Concorde when I went to the British Air Museum at Filton, Bristol (which I’d thoroughly recommend to anyone). Thanks for your content, Petter; you make TH-cam a worthwhile place to be. ❤
What a wonderful video. I'm not that old, but the first plane I flew on was an Ethiopian Airlines DC3 from a rugged airport in the 80s.
Very cool!
DC 3s were the start of a life long obsession with aviation. I used to watch them flying in parts for a General Motors plant in the 1960s at my local municipal airport.
Flew in one as a kid in the 80s in Central America. Even as a small kid I remember the remarkable difference of the slanted floor when boarding, amd the dirt airstrip. The plane's silhouette made a memorable impression.
My uncle flew these for Ozark out of St. Louis and loved the plane. A good friend of mine also fondly recalls traveling in these all over Colombia as a child and he saw them propagated all over S. America. Like the King Air, “they got it right.”
Had the privilege of catching a hop from Dallas Naval Air Station to Andrews AFB IN '75. AWESOME! The reservist DC-3 continued on to Italy.
Brilliant video! Something related to this, and maybe a good subject for a future video is the question of "false twins", many twin engine aircraft prior to DC3 couldn't keep flying on one engine, let alone continue to take off on one. Hence so many tri motor designs of the period. Aerodynamic, stressed skin designs, with featherable propellers and more powerful engines were the way forward, and this is one of the ways that the DC-3 fits into the overall story of progress in aviation. It wasn't just a brilliant design in itself, it brought together the cutting edge technology of the age.
Petter, LOVE all your videos, so much detail and information, and you make it so much fun to watch. Remember as a kid flying for the first time on a DC-3 from CCS to CUR, and the pilot was a friend of my parents allowed us to come to the cockpit. Ever since all my toys were airplanes and wanted to be a pilot, didn't work out, so I became a flight attendant, which I am to this day and loving flying every minute. Thank you.! 👍keep doing a great job.!
Here's a few extra fun facts;
Buffalo Airlines, a cargo and passenger service that operates in Canada's Northwest territories, operates the DC-3 with its original piston engines as a cargo hauler alongside the Curtiss C-46 and the Lockheed L-188 "Electra".
They also operate the DC-6 as a passenger service.
I think they retired the DC-6s completely some years ago, and stopped flying passengers in them long before that.
Do they fly to Anchorage? I've seen one in Aviation Videography's videos from there.
@@maryeckel9682 Most of Buffalo's operations are in the northwest territories of Canada, but it wouldn't be too farfetched to think they can and do fly to parts of the USA including Anchorage, Alaska on occasion.
I mean heck, they flew two amphibious firefighting planes to Turkey at one point!
Yes the Ice Pilots. I loved watching that series.
@@grizzlygrizzlesure enjoyed that series! THAT'S real flying!!!
I was fortunate to fly the DC-3. The people I flew for had purchased a C-47 from the government after the war and had it converted radically. It had single fuel tanks in each wing which held 850 gallons each. Also had JATO bottles installed in the belly for extra thrust if power was lost on one engine during takeoff. Had all the radios moved from the racks behind the cockpit to between the wing spars in the belly. Seated 18 with club seating and couches with full bar. Beautiful plane and fun to fly. I later got to fly all the different models of the 737's. Great career. You mentioned C.R. Smith from American Airlines. I had him aboard several times going to a ranch in Mexico.
As a World War 2 baby, I grew up loving the DC-3, and I still love it today. This was a wonderful video. And kudos for mentioning Mikey and Joe McBryan and Buffalo Air.
You might have included the incredible story of a DC-3 that was stranded at some small airfield during a war with a damaged wing. They somehow scavanged up a wing from a DC-2, grafted it into the DC-3, and flew the plane out of there.
I think that may have taken place in China. I have seen a picture of that aircraft in--I think--a book about the Flying Tigers and the USAAF operations that followed.
The DC2.5. And how many people did it carry out in that condition. Mikey McBryans Plane Saver series has the story on that.
Often called the DC 2 1/2. A remarkable aircraft.
There was no need to "graft" it on. Both wings shared the same root rib, it bolted right on. Equally amazing is that the wing was simply strapped to the underside of another DC3 and flown to the crippled aircraft to be installed.
My very first flight was indeed on a DC3 in 1961. Flew between Ottawa and Rankin Inlet, N.W.T., now Nunavut. then again on July 3rd 1963 between Rankin Inlet and Winnipeg...part of that trip was on only one motor...great memories.
2 things:
1) I thought that the reason for the placement of the Magneto Switches were to prevent the electrical current (and therefor the electric magnetic effect it would create) away from the Compass. (Oh well!)
2) I was also surprised that you didn't mention why the DC-2 & DC-3 wheels didn't fully retract. This was in case of the landing gear failing to extend. That over half of the wheel sticking out would mitigate the damage to the plane in case of a "belly landing., The same goes for most of the planes of that period that had/have retractable landing gear, AND is the reason why the A-10's main landing gear is also exposed!
That’s an awesome little nugget of trivia. Thanks!
There is a good reason the mag switches didn't interfere with the wet compass. The default state of the magnetos was "live" - the switches ground the P leads to kill the mags. When the mags were active there was no current to affect the compass.
Main landing wheels on a B17 do not fully detract for that reason
@@flagmichael : In any case, if current flowed when the switch was on, current in a return wire would cancel the magnetic field from the hot wire and you would still have no effect on the compass.
The magneto switch is actually very close to the compass. There is no problem with electrical current interference.
The magneto switch is located in easy reach of both pilot and copilot. It is located away from the controls used in flight. It is also near, but separated from the main electrical switch panels, so the wiring is run in a common chase. Thus, it is protected from accidental operation, but is still easily accessible when needed.
When considering the visibility from outside the aircraft, it is the ideal location for a great many reasons!
I flew on a DC-3 just 1 time. It was 8 weeks after I had joined the US Air Force in 1968. I was on my way to Robins AFB, Ga. and the connecting flight from Atlanta was on Delta Airlines to Macon, Ga. 90 miles away.
My mother was a stewardess (before the days of flight attendants!) for Eastern Airlines from 1952-1958. During that time she crewed on both DC-3s and Super Constellations. She felt that she had flown on virtually every DC-3 operated by Eastern, so most likely had worked the one hanging in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. She told stories of flying NYC to Miami routes where they'd have stops at major cities along the coast-- DC, Charleston, Savannah, etc. Back then there was a full meal service on each leg of the flight and, as there was only one stewardess, the co-pilot would leave the cockpit to assist with the meal service!
As always, thanks for sharing your expertise by creating these videos!
From late 1961 until the fall of 1967 I worked for the Douglas Aircraft Co. First at the Vandenburg AFB Field Station, then in the corporate Offices in Santa Monica. One of my last projects was the design of the West Coast corporate headquarters of the (then) new McDonnell Douglas Corporation. One afternoon I was able to spend some time with Donald Douglas Sr., while he told stories about the beginning of the Company, and the history of the DC3. Years later I was introduced to a retired Navy Commander who told me that the integrity of the design of his Douglas A4D Skyhawk had saved his life several times during his deployment during the Vietnam war. It was an honor to be associated with a company whose products were of the highest quality.
The DC-3 was the first airplane I saw, up close, at Walker Field in Grand Junction, CO, in the early '50s. In my opinion, it and the 747 are the two finest aircraft in history. I spent most of 50 years in the aerospace industry as a mechanical engineer, so take a quite an interest in this sort of thing. Thank you for this historical review -- more, please.
Such an iconic plane.
A few weeks ago there was a DC-3 making round trips from our local airport Maastricht-Aachen Airport in the Netherlands, which I didn't know beforehand.
I was outside talking with my neighbour and heard the sound of radial engines, and said to my neighbour just by the sound, "there's a Dc-3".
A moment later a got the plane visual and that unmistakable shape of the DC-3 tail fin emerged.
It was the Dutch Dakota Association doing their yearly trips from this airport, and next year I want to book a seat on one of these flights.
Love the DC3. A year after my discharge from army aviation, 1972, I got the chance to copilot a converted C47 to Mexico from southern California. We flew low, and I was amazed at how it handled. It was a seat of the pants beast, but it did what you told it.
Thanks for these great videos.
I have no idea why but from a child, I’ve always loved this aircraft.
I'm not surprised they've stuck around. They come from a particular era of flight, where we knew a lot about the kind of forces we needed to withstand, but couldn't yet model them accurately enough to have a relatively small safety margin... so they ended up built like a flying rhino. Add being able to land and take off pretty much anywhere you can put a flat stretch of dirt, and you get a machine that isn't flashy but *will* get the job done.
of course by "relatively small" I mean "incredibly wide by ground equipment standards" 😂
What has kept them around also is the fact that the us massively over produced spare parts during WW2, to the extent that still today there are warehouses full of new in the box spare parts. The engines could be rebuilt or purchased new at a very low cost (comparatively) for the same reasons, so in addition to the airplanes basic great qualities, this is what has kept it in commercial service for so many years...
As a three year old in 1946 I flew with my Mum from Sydney Australia to Melbourne in a DC-3. The pilot allowed me into though cockpit, I only have the vaguest memory of that, and I was allowed to run up and down the aisle to play ( I also threw up in a brown paper bag thoughtfully provided by the crew ). On landing at Melbourne, I remember a row of DC-3's in military colours parked alongside the runway. Later as 12 y.o. I flew ( in Australia) from Cairns to Brisbane in a DC-3 which because of weather and lack of pressurisation flew at very low altitude experiencing great turbulence all the way, a very uncomfortable 800 miles (1200 kms ).
VERY WELL DONE! And this from a highly experienced former DC-3 pilot. Excellent and totally accurate history lesson. I am so proud to have the coveted DC-3 type rating on my Airline Transport Pilot License next to the ones for the B-737, B-757, and B-767. I was so fortunate to fly in the 1970s not only the DC-3, but the Beech 18 as well, which I flew on contract mail flights at night and in scheduled passenger service. The 1970s were the last decade where radial engine airplanes were routinely flown in commercial air service. Most of that was on airmail flights at night for the US Post office, and freight. I refer the 1970s as the trailing edge of the golden era of aviation.
I flew the 737 300/400/800, 767 200/300, 747 100, 200, 300, & 400. (And not in that chronological order.)
The one other aeroplane that I didn’t ever fly, and wish I had, was the brilliant old DC3.
@@FutureSystem738 Well said! But still, you have had an amazing career flying REAL airplanes, Boeings! Wish we could have flown the DC-3 together.
Some of the pilots that flew us sky diving and they flew mail also. I have hundred of jumps out of the Beech 18 and the DC3 I love jumping out of the DC3 I was in a DC3 when we lost an engine we had 36 jumpers on board and we didn't loose one bit of altitude and it was able to fly back over the airport so we could all get out and they flew it all the way to Okland and landed on 1 engine.
In the early 50’s my dad, a doctor, and our family flew all over Pakistan, India and Burma in DC 3’s. I was a mid teen, it was noisy but magic once even riding in the cockpit standing behind the pilot. On a trip from Calcutta to Rangoon we landed midway on one of the old Air Force metal runway strips with the pieces hooked together. On a trip to Goa we hit an air pocket, mom shrieked, the rest of us laughed. Great basic transportation!
Got to fly in one of these for the first time earlier this month. The engine sounds are still a marvel to hear. In actual performance it's impressive how quickly the plane gets airborne and also how smooth the landings can be in good conditions.
as a skydiver i once got to jump 'mr douglas' .. had the twin wasps in her and boy was that some sweet music. i sat right in between 'em for the stereo.. ditto on the sound. only the beech-18 was sweeter 'cuz your closer to the engines..
@@Danstaafl During my first trip to Z-HIlls / Florida in 1986, I had my first skydive from a DC-3. Her name was "Bird Machine". The owner of her was Jerry Bird. She had one kick and one handle each in front and behind the door, outside the plane, for the floaters. I was the rear-rear floater, so I had to climb out of the Bird Machine first. I put my left foot in the door frame and held onto the inside with my left hand. With my right hand, I grabbed the back handle. Then I put my right foot on the back step and grabbed the handle with my left hand. As soon as I put out my left foot, the airflow put me in a horizontal position, and I hung horizontally next to the bird machine, holding on with both hands, about 13,000 feet above Z-Hills, until the rear floater got out. I slid back down in his slipstream and put my feet on the step. That was a moment I will never forget. Besides me, there was a front-front, a front, a center, and a rear-floater. READY SET GO!
During that stay at Z-Hills and the following years, I made several more jumps out of various DC-3 airplanes. They were Southern Cross, Mr. Douglas, Our Douglas, Agent Orange, and Silver Bullet. The Silver Bullet was an exception because it had the door on the right rear. I never had a stable jump out of the Silver Bullet, and I was not alone in this.
BLUE SKIES!
I flew with my parents in an Indian Airlines Skymaster in 1962 from Bombay (now Mumbai) to Calcutta (now Kolkata) and again in a DC3 from Bangalore (now Bengaluru) to Mumbai. The flight to Kolkata lasted almost four hours. In those days, the food in the aircraft was not wrapped in plastic. We were served breakfast of cereal, toast, fried eggs, and coffee in a pot, and was eaten with silver cutlery. It was accompanied by a large apple. The meal, for me, lasted through the flight and I disembarked at Kolkata eating the apple. The DC 3 flight was slower but the distance being less, lasted two hours. We had afternoon tea on board. These were my first two flights and I loved the experience. I flew much later in life but none of those flights are as memorable as the the first two.
One big factor for their longevity is that they are not a pressurized aircraft. They were also 'overbuilt', using slide rules and designed for rough use. In the 1980's and into the 1990's, they were often used by the drug cartels to bring in drugs from Columbia to the USA. They were also popular and still used for freighters in the Caribbean as good on short, rough runways, haul a truckload and stone cold reliable. A number of them are static displays, including one used for an eating area for a McDonald's in New Zealand, and outside the museum at the original home of Douglas and where many DC-3 and DC-4 series were made adjacent to Santa Monica Airport in the LA area of California.
As to the crash of the Fokker tri-engine you cite, that also led to the beginnings of the US Government crash investigation agencies we have to this day and a prototype of almost all national government crash investigation agencies.
There is a legend that says when they take the last 747 to the boneyard, a DC-3 will fly them home...
Non pressurized cabin also makes for a long life of an aircraft.
Many thanks for making this video, Petter. I first 'discovered' the DC3 almost 60 years ago when I read the famous 'Biggles' books as a child in a Manchester junior school. One of the books paid particular attention to the DC3 'Dakota' and ever since then I have had a sense of understanding whenever the DC3 has been mentioned on TV or in actual conversation, even though I have never seen an actual DC3. The books were written in the 1930's by Captain W.E. Johns whose Wikipedia entry is almost as exciting as his fictional 'Biggles' stories. Thanks again, Petter, for allowing me to relive a wonderful childhood memory.
I remember seeing an hourlong documentary on the development of it over 25 years ago. at the time, there was a regional airline in New York State who flew them because while it was half as fast, their ability to use small airfields meant they could make two trips in the time it took a regional jet to make one (and wait in line to take off and land at the larger airports)
I saw that, the PBS Nova series
Probably Mohawk based out of Albany, NY. I remember flying on their last DC3 in service. Our scheduled aircraft suffered a mechanical in Albany one dark stormy turbulent night, and the 3 was pulled out to complete the flight. To be honest, at the time, it was of those white knuckle rides, but an overriding memory was the comforting rolling rumble of those two radial engines.
I went on to a career in aviation catching the tail end of the radial era with the Beech 18 powered by the P&W 985. The large radial engines had a personality - bucking and snorting, backfiring and possibly spitting flames before springing into life with a deep rolling rumble of the exhaust note. A trusty old work horse friend reluctant to leave the stable, but always up for a good day’s work.
I retired flying turbines and always appreciated their reliability, power, and high altitude performance, but something was missing. Noise had replaced music.
@@myrlstone8904 I flew on an American or United flight from Sacramento to Reno in 1964. It was just chugging upward until it cleared the Sierras, and then the descent into Reno.
-- I wonder if the cockpit layout's being so similar to those of today is an indication that they got the basic ergonomics right back then.
@@grizzlygrizzlecockpit layout is an example of form follows function. The same layout requirements which existed with the 3 still exist today. The right and left panels directly in front of the pilots consist of the primary flight instruments which display information required to actually fly the aircraft - the gyroscope instruments (artificial horizon, direction indicator, & turn and bank)plus airspeed and vertical speed indicator. Additionally here ,one will find navigational displays.
Modern technology has added to and improved on these basics. Each panel is completely independent of the other for redundancy.
The center stack will traditionally include radio and navigation frequency selectors, etc. plus power-plant information displays, fuel quantity etc. The key here being, information or controls which either pilot might access. The lower center - power, prop, mixture, landing gear, flaps, etc. Again either pilot. The left and right side panels primarily housing circuit breakers and switches, in general splitting the management duties between the right and left seat. The overhead likewise with anything which either pilot might monitor or need to access being oriented towards the center.
The DC 3 cockpit built on the aircraft cockpit layouts which preceded it, and modern jetliners continued that process of form follows function abiding to the same basic guidelines. Safety and redundancy with two independent flight displays and division of responsibilities and labor with safety being the overriding factor.
Ergonomics as to do with pilot comfort has little to no bearing on the design.
Thank you for this video! The DC-3 was the airplane that Trans Texas Airways used to get started. They had both real DC-3's and World War II C-47's in the fleet. My dad used to take me out to our local airport so I could watch airplanes. It was funny to watch the Trans Texas DC-3's and C-47's on the ramp together. They would park nose to nose at the gates -- the DC-3 passenger door was on the right side of the airplane and the C-47 door was on the left -- the remains of the cargo doors from the war time airplanes.
Dad was in a B-25 squadron during the war and he used to say he was amazed at the things he saw going into and coming out of C-47's. They carried jeeps and artillery pieces -- the pilots said that if anything would fit through the doors, the plane could fly.
I just love DC3's, and I'm so happy you mentioned the Basler BT67! They are slightly stretched from the wing root to the cockpit, but other than that are a DC3! They use the popular P&W PT6 turbine engine, the 14-18 cyl radials are gone. That makes them super reliable and quieter. Big door, big payload and go anywhere! They are also a joy to fly! They should be around as long as we still have fuel to fill the tanks.!! Great story, thanks!! 8) --gary
Thanks for bringing back all the good memories of my first flight which was onboard a Dakota of the Bechuanaland Airways way back during 1964. The flight started at Gaborone (capital of Botswana) via Francistown onwards to Maun and the Okavango. We flew at such low altitude that when crossing the vast expanses of the Makgadikgadi pans, one could clearly see the large baobab trees. A passenger shared his concern with the co-pilot/navigator by indicating a thin trickle of fluid escaping from the engine cowling and dripping off the tail-end of the wing. He was told that it’s quite normal and must again raise his concern when the dripping stops. The good old days when one could still walk up the isle into the cockpit and have a chat with the captain. Cheers
Hi Petter, my father flew DC3's for TAA here in Australia. He flew them in &out of cattle stations in the outback of Australia, sometimes not even raising the under carriage as they would be landing again soon. He also flew DC4's , Viscounts, Electra's, DC9's, 727's, & finally the Airbus A300 before retiring. TAA became Australian Airline before merging into Qantas. Dad always said the DC3 was one of his favorites. Cheers Peter from Oz
Greetings - I also flew DC-3's when I joined Ansett-ANA as a new FO in June 1964. I ended up with 500 hours on the type before switching to the DC-4.
I still have very fond memories of the DC-3 and operations to various country airports around Victoria and Tasmania., as well as night freighter flights to places like King Island where we used to land on a flare path. It was/is such a good aircraft.
@@Ted-Hanoi Hi Ted, Dad always said the DC-3 was a favourite of his. I never went in the DC-3 with him but rode quite a few times in the DC-4 Cockpit in the jump seat. Good times😎
I flew in DC-3's on Northeast Airlines, and on United Airlines. My absolute favorite aircraft.
Long after most airlines went to jets, Islandic Airlines was still using the DC-6B, for service to Europe and North America.
pilots haven't changed to a different shape, so unless there is a pressing reason to change the cockpit layout, there is no reason not to keep it consistent. I know most helicopters also have a master shutoff in the center above the windshield - and as the pilot who gave me the tour said, even though they don't need to be a big handle, to operate them, they still put in a big handle, so it's easy for emergency crews to find.
Just watching your video and over head passed a DC 3, magic !
Another phenomenal video Petter! Really love the footage of you in the DC-3. Also keep doing those comparisons when you're talking about different variants. It really helps visualize and see those differences. It's crazy how many DC-3s were produced but, I can easily see it happening due to the ramp up in aircraft during WW2. Speaking of this aircraft's incredible service life. They use a C-47 up at Ted Steven's airport in Alaska to deliver cargo to hard to reach communities.
I think I flew with Sabena on DC3 between France and Africa, sometime during 1967.
I've always wanted to ride in a DC-3
I've flown the DC-3 few times recently. Im going to fly on it again next month. My route is EFHK-EFTP-EFVA-EFJM-EFHK.
It is an over 80 year old DC-3 flying for Airveteran (registered OH-LCH) It was originally delivered for Pan Am and has then operated for U.S airforce, Finnair and finnish airforce. It is the last airworthy DC-3 in Finland. It flies sightseeing flights in Finland and some flights to Estonia.
Got a chance to fly DC3 last summer, and I loved every second onboard. Beautiful bird!❤
Very interesting to hear about Douglas' non-military, pre-merger success. Sounds like this was the true work horse of the prop engine era. I'd love to hear your take on the DC-10. It has such a complicated and negative history where commercial aviation is concerned, and yet its still in the air decades later and has been considered relatively low accident after many fixes.
I've always been a huge fan of these planes for some reason. I hope a lot of them are preserved. They are an important part of aviation history.
The only time I’ve flown aboard a DC3 was when a short lived company called Vintage Airways operated nostalgia flights between select cities here in Florida. I flew my own personal airplane(an Aerostar 601B ) from Ft Lauderdale to Orlando to board a Vintage scheduled flight from there to Key West. Not long after reaching cruise altitude, we lost the right engine and had to return to Orlando. Vintage put us on another airline for the trip to Key West , and my return flight, after a short vacation stay , was also on a Vintage Airways DC3 and was just delightful! Interesting experience-great memories !
Always been one of my favorite aircraft, right up there by the B17 superfortress.
I shall never forget flying to a gravel runway (Barter Island - PABA) on the north coast of Alaska in a DC3 over 40 years ago. At the time I though that an aircraft over 30 years old was very old indeed to be in commercial service but seeing them still flying when they are now more than 70 years old is really something.
Hey Jeremy, I might have been your pilot on that flt. Flew the DEW LINE 63-64 for Wien Airlines. Great airplane.
More than anything I most remember as a kid in the late '50s watching the piston engines starting. The slow turning of the prop, the smoke, wondering it was really going to start then suddenly
faster the prop spins faster the engine changes pitch.
Obviously it wasnt the DC 3 but I have tried to recall which piston passenger aircraft boarded passengers through the tail stairs.
Possibly a Martin 2-0-2 but more likely the improved 4-0-4. They were twin engine piston airliners with the rear air stair. They were competitors of the Convair 240/340/440, but the Convairs won out, and the Martins faded away.
I am getting one fuselage rebuilt in South Africa. Replacing the piston engines for P&W turboprop ones . A $ 9 M project. This is just for my love for the DC 3 . It's the C 47 btw .
Awesome!! Send pictures!
@@MentourNowsure Sir when ready
Such a beautiful aircraft... and such an extraordinary history of service.
I really enjoyed this look at the history of an older yet iconic aircraft. If you and the team can find the time, may I suggest a similar video on the pre-war flying boats of Imperial Airways and Pan Am. I would have loved the opportunity to try flying in one of these unique aircraft. Thank you for your great content - as always.
I love the DC-3's. There are 2 at the airfield on Cape Cod down my road on Cape Cod in Massachusetts where I live. It's always a thrill to see them fly in and out of the field. You can tell be the engine sounds! Great airplanes. Watched your video on the DC-3, and Yes, the old bird is still flying, both of them are aloft all the time. Wonderful. I'm an old Metalsmift 1st class with the Navy, and these planes I love.
I love how Buffalo Joe is still using them.
A testament to how amazing this plane was is the years spent "flying the Hump" during the Second World War. Talk about all purpose! When Japan seized Rangoon and shut down the Burmese Road in 1942, the US decided to fly over the Himalayas from India to resupply Chinese troops. They used the 47 and later added a few 53's to do this as well as the Curtiss C-46 Commando. The 47 was the backbone of the operation which lasted from 42 to 45. The sustained courage of the pilots and relentless resilience of the aircraft makes for an amazing story.
Love your proper Scandinavian pronunciation of Knute Rockne first name. In most of USA outside of maybe Lindsborg Ks and a few other Swedish communities in Wisconsin and Minnesota his name is pronounced as "Nute" with the K being ignored.
As to the DC3, I have been lucky (unlucky) enough to fly in it as passenger, not a commercial passenger though, several times. I have flown in them in both the USA and in Korea. This was in the days before ear protection was common and you had to wait a day or two for your hearing to return to normal if you took a flight of more than 1 or two hours. All were either active or past military version C47s (or R3D-8 & C117) which of course did not have a single square inch of sound insulation. Riding in metal military seat could also give you a better shake down than Mafia boss shaking down the merchants in Little Italy. But still I loved my flights in the type and the C-46 Commando by Curtiss which was a bit more powerful and slightly larger and with larger cargo capacity and range it dominated the flights over the Himalayas into China (Over the Hump).
You did forget to mention one version of the C-47 - the AC-47 Spooky aka "Puff the Magic Dragon" gunship with 7.62 miniguns and a couple of M2 .50 Heavy Browning machine guns.
Those 53 conversions saved the lives of a couple of people I knew in southeast Asian jungles.
14:00
He is Swedish...
Down here at Haynnis on the Cape (2B1) there are 2 DC 3s that still operate from the field. I was totally blown away the first time i saw one
Every few months I will see one flying...always makes me happy to see them in the air.
Wow. That was fascinating. I love the mag switches/engine start fact. It’s amazing how many things are the way they are because of some odd reason long after the requirement for it is gone!!! Love it.
I got a chance to skydive out of one here in Australia in the late 80's, it was a joy to ride in and I'm glad to have had the opportunity. The prop wash is a big exciting when you exit the plane too.
🎉 👍⭐🇦🇺
Worth mentionning : dwight Eisenhower, who knew a thing or two about WWII, listed the DC-3 as one of the four main american inventions leading to victory.
The other three being the Jeep, the atomic bomb and the bazooka.
The county airport by my hometown in Texas is still home to a trio of operating DC-3s! They’re mostly used for aerial photography, but they occasionally offer rides when the airport hosts its fly-in pancake breakfasts.
When I was a child I had an option of flying on a DC3 or a Fokker Friendship. I chose the Friendship. One of the silliest decisions of my life - I still kick myself about it.
Beautiful classic aircraft! Thank you for covering this awesome bird!
Lee county in Florida (Ft Myers) still uses a DC3 for its mosquito control program. Ive seen it several times flying at 500 feet spraying everywhere. Beautiful plane!!!
While I've flown as a passenger a good number of times, my very first flight was in 1963 or 64, when my Mom, my three brothers, and myself flew to Hawaii to live with my USMC Dad while he was stationed at Kaneohe.
While waiting to take off from San Diego, the pilot invited my mom to bring one of my brothers and me to the cockpit to help alleviate our fears. We were in awe!
Unfortunately, that can no longer happen. I've often wondered how many children the pilots invited up front ended up in the airline industry.
Regarding hand propping, I had a friend who was chased by his plane when he had the throttle advanced a bit too much.
There is a beautifully restored DC3 flying regularly around where I live. On a sunny day it's a blinding sight in the sky because its unpainted aluminium skin has been polished very shiny.
Hi Mentour, I thoroughly enjoyed this; it brought to mind one of my all-time favorite books, *Fate is the Hunter*, Ernest K Gann´s memoir of his years as a pilot in the 1930s-1940s (which included flying DC-2s and DC-3s.)
Great book, must read for aviators, EK Gann was a legend for decades,.
TWA - also an acronym for Three Witches Aloft.
Hello, all fellow Terry Pratchett fans.
Thank you, Petter, and amazing team.
The dc3 is what sparked my interest in aviation. Love this old bird!
A cool detail about the magneto switches and probably many other parts of this plane is they were produced by Square D. They make electrical products for residential, commercial and industrial applications. They made many airplane fuses, lights, and switches. I'm an electrician so I was able to catch the logo on the magneto switches.
I still flew in them when I did my 2 year military service in the South African Airforce in 1986 - 1988.
I worked as an air marshaller and we always had to stand at the engines with a fire extinguisher when they started up, for in case they caught fire. :) Once sat in a DC-3 cockpit with a landing - cool experience.
I recall the DC-3 had six combined innovations that contributed to it's success; all-metal construction, retractable landing gear, enclosed engine nacelles, variable pitch props, extendable landing flaps, and flush rivets.