A dream come true,

Since I was a boy I've wanted to fly a DC-3/C-47. Yesterday that dream came true. I qualified on a DC-3/AC-47 configured as a Vietnam Era "Spooky"... "Puff the Magic Dragon" gunship.

What a thrill. Although I have hundreds of hours in Twin Beech aircraft, they are much smaller... and the DC-3 is of course the grand-daddy of all airliners. The most famous/historic aircraft of all times. 25,200 lbs.(gross wt.) and 2,400 h.p. of real airplane.

The ultimate backcountry airplane. Now if we can just bring it to Johnson Creek....ha ha!

Wish I knew how to post pictures of it. I have them on Picassa.

Bob

Very cool.

Adding the type is very high on my bucket list. Soon.

Gump

DC-3s have been into JC, and Big Creek back when it was a lot shorter, and also to Sulphur Creek when the GIs were flown in for a "recreational" break in the cribs on second floor.

Oh yeah, CONGRATULATIONS.
Chris C

Awesome! One day I hope to say the same....I've got a long way to go though, I need my ME still.

Dc-3........the grand-daddy of all airliners.

So does this make the Boeing 247 the great-grand-daddy of all modern airliners?

The way I understood it, Boeing plowed the field and Douglas reaped the harvest.

Not putting down Douglas, they had the smarts to up-size to a more useful/economical size and hang flaps on their version to make landings slower/safer, but Boeing "plowed the new ground". If you count historical impact, hands down/no debate, it is the Douglas DC-3. Infact the Douglas DC-3 was a VERY LARGE contributor to the winning of WWII. But, lets not forget the Boeing engineers (and their slide rules) who made the big leap.

From Boeing country,
lc

And congratulations. A very NICE trophy rating indeed. I'm jealous.

That's very awesome, Bob!!

Yesterday I was driving north on the 405 passing the Long Beach airport and the Catalina Express DC-3 was landing as I'm passing. I could barely keep my eyes on the road.

I would love to fly a DC-3 one of these days. They are just so cool, right up there with the Tri-Motor.

That is cool! Rode in the USFS DC-3 before I was a pilot and really didn't appreciate the aircraft like I would now.

That's awesome, Bob. Congrats.

Reminds me of this: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=4198

Cool site and some fun videos.

Great Stuff Zane,


JETS ARE FOR KIDS!!

bOB

Littlecub wrote:

Dc-3........the grand-daddy of all airliners.

So does this make the Boeing 247 the great-grand-daddy of all modern airliners?
The way I understood it, Boeing plowed the field and Douglas reaped the harvest........

The Boeing Museum of Flight has a 247 which they used to fly occasionally, sometimes coming into my airport (jefferson county/port townsend) for lunch. Being under 10,000#, it could land there whereas a DC3 can't. Very cool aircraft.
I believe the ground-breaking Boeing 247 came out in 1933. With it's aluminum construction, 10 passenger seats, & twin 550-horse P&W 1340 powerplants, it was a quantum leap over the various trimotors then in use. Unfortunately it in turn was totally outclassed when the DC-3 came out just 2 years later, featuring 21 seats & 1,100 horse Wright 1820's (later switched to 1,200 hp P&W 1830's).
Is that DC3 out of Long Beach used for regular scheduled service to Catalina Island? I'd love to go for a ride in one of those. I wonder what the tickets cost? I have a trip down to orange county coming up this spring, maybe I'll try to catch a ride.

Thanks for the link!
Crosswinds are always the same, lots of cranking and yankin, would of love to have seen the video of the rudder pedals along with the Wheel!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP6YvqfdQMY&feature=fvwp

GT

hotrod150 wrote:.......Is that DC3 out of Long Beach used for regular scheduled service to Catalina Island? I'd love to go for a ride in one of those. I wonder what the tickets cost? I have a trip down to orange county coming up this spring, maybe I'll try to catch a ride.

Just tried googling it. Looks like the nly pax air service to Catalina is by helicopter, and that the DC3's are only used as freighters. Too bad.
Maybe I could stow away....

.......totally outclassed when the DC-3 came out just 2 years later,.....

That is all true. Remember, back then airplanes were going from concept to start up of production in that length of time. And available motors were jumping in size seemingly overnight. A good reference is the planes and motors at the start of WWII hostilities compared to what was available at the end just a few short traumatic/dramatic years later (WOW!).
The DC-3 is a great airplane and it was sized right for the war. When the Boeing 247 was developed it was 'cutting edge'. Back then 'cutting edge' was a VERY rapidly moving target.......
And Boeing made an arrogant decision not to sell to competitor airlines, so those competitors pushed Douglas to 'one up' Boeing,.... and did they ever!

Competition breeds progress.
lc

I expect someone will be willing to 're-orient' me if I am off track.....

Little Cub,

You are on track. Boeing/United Air Lines tried to keep the B-247 exclusive...sort of like the Wright Brothers did with their Wright Flyer.. As a result American Airlines convinced Donald Douglas to develope the DC-3. The DC-1 was a prototype. The DC-2, already in service with TWA and others was similiar to the DC-3 but smaller. The DC-3 was a quantum leap over the 247. Soon virtually all U.S. domestic airliners were DC-3s.

As a result of Boeing/UAL decision to be "exclusive".... Douglas dominated the airliner market for a quarter of a century.... until the jet age and the mighty B-707. Boeing should have kept those guys with their slide rules busy.

Ah for the day when we produced....Martin, Convair, Lockheed, Douglas and Boeing airliners. For the days with three engines in the tail: four on the wings, four on the tail, two on the tail, two under the wings, four in the wing root, high wings, low wings, T-tails and conventional tails. Now all the large airliners are Boeing or Airbus. Mostly boring look alike.... twin engines under the wing.

Sorry....Now back to backcountry flying.

Bob

^^^^Good topic, Bob. And again, way to go, very cool rating and experience-I am sure.

lc

Congratulations on the DC 3 qualification. The C46 is the big tail dragger I always wanted to fly. I just flew with a guy that had some C46 experience flying fuel to mining camps in alaska. He had a few good stories.

Congratulations- that's awesome! The DC3 is one of my all-time favorite airplanes. If you are who I think you are, I was talking to some of your buddies and got enlisted to help pull the props through for you. Had a little trouble getting the left engine started, I think?

What a beautiful sound though!

As late as the 90's, you could still get a job flying DC-3s in the continental US. Of course, you didn't make much, and you always carried your toolbox, but you were flying a DC-3. I don't think any of the outfits that were doing it in the 90s even still exist. I know the place I flew for is gone. The three was still reasonably competitive in the 80s for some jobs but pretty soon, all those jobs went away. The outfit I flew for made their bread and butter off of feeding the big guys like CF and UPS but CF folded their air carriage and I think pretty much everybody else started requiring turbines so the final nail was driven home. I don't know of anybody in the lower 48 still flying the three commercially.

Wayne

How about a BIG taildragger with three engines? I met the instructor for a unique type rating program last summer while doing a family trip in the 182 to the Grand Canyon. A truly classy operation. I talked to them for an hour over lunch, got a cockpit tour and was hooked! Three radials, and a tail wheel. I have added a Ford Tri-Motor type rating to my bucket list.

http://www.fordtyperatings.com/