Celebrating 85 years of the DC 3

Check out my other clips from this flight:
Dakota engine start: • Dakota engine start an...
and the soothing hum of the engines from a camera looking out the window.
The 17th of December 2020, marked the 85th anniversary of the first flight of the DC-3 and to celebrate at HARS Aviation Museum, we flew this military version of the DC-3 over Sydney Harbour.
It was thirty two years to the day after the Wright brothers first took to the air when the prototype DC-3, known as the Douglas Sleeper Transport, took to the skies over Santa Monica. The DC-3 became instrumental in establishing the airline industry in the 1930s and made air travel popular.
It’s rugged, over-engineered design meant that it was an obvious choice as a transport / utility aircraft when the Second World War broke out and a military version was produced, the C-47.
Also known as the Dakota, over 16,000 DC-3s and C-47s were produced from 1935 to 1949 and, when the war was over, thousands of them were converted for civilian airline use. In Australia, many airlines operated the type, including Qantas, Australian National Airways and Trans Australia Airlines.
But today, we’re flying an aircraft that was built as a C-47 for the Royal Australian Air Force in 1945. This aircraft holds the record for the longest serving aircraft in the RAAF, having been delivered and seeing service during the last months of the Second World War and operated continuously until 1999. Actually it has been operated continuously by HARS Aviation Museum since it was acquired from the air force, so this aircraft celebrated 75 years of operations this year.
Today’s flight will take us from Shellharbour airport, south of Wollongong, 60 nautical miles up the east coast past Sea Cliff Bridge, Stanwell Park and the Royal National Park, then onto Cronulla where we’ll pass under the approach path for Sydney Airport. From Sydney Heads we’ll climb to 1,500 feet and continue to Long Reef while our clearance for the Harbour Scenic is processed. After a short hold we’ll head towards the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, departing via Sydney Heads and back down Victor One to return to Shellharbour airport.
Music: • 🎵 New Year - Bad Snack...
HARS Aviation Museum is open every day (except Christmas Day) and can be found at Shellharbour airport, 54 Airport Road, Albion Park Rail NSW 2527.
This video is for entertainment purposes only and is not meant to be instructional or representative of appropriate flight procedures as editing removes the context of the events depicted.