Dakota DC3

Flying a Legend — The Dakota DC-3

On 5 January 1990, Hélène and I had the extraordinary opportunity to fly aboard a Douglas DC-3 in Cuba, from Isla de Pinos to Havana. Our aircraft had originally been built in 1945 as a C-47B and, remarkably, was still in regular service in 1990. Although it had been modernised over the years and fitted with newer avionics, the old magic was still very much there.

I can still remember the sound.

As the two Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines came to life, their deep roar travelled straight through the fuselage. The aircraft began to move, vibrating and shaking as we gathered speed. Then we were airborne, climbing steadily until we reached our cruising altitude and set course for Havana. It was a beautiful day, and sitting inside an aircraft that had already been flying for nearly half a century made the journey something very special. This was not simply transportation from one part of Cuba to another. We were flying aboard a piece of aviation history.

The Douglas DC-3 is without doubt one of the great aircraft of the twentieth century. Its first flight took place on 17 December 1935, exactly 32 years after the Wright brothers made their historic first powered flight at Kitty Hawk. Few people present that day in California could have realised that they were witnessing the beginning of an aviation legend.

The aircraft originated as the Douglas Sleeper Transport (DST), a luxurious overnight airliner developed for American Airlines. Its cabin could accommodate fourteen sleeping passengers, with lower berths that converted into comfortable daytime seats and upper berths that folded away into the ceiling. There were dressing rooms, lavatories, a galley serving hot meals and even a private compartment that became known as the “honeymoon cabin.” In an age when long-distance luxury travel was still dominated by the railway, it was essentially a Pullman sleeping car with wings. The DC-3 soon proved capable of much more. During the Second World War its military derivatives, particularly the C-47 Skytrain, became indispensable transport aircraft. After the war, thousands found new lives carrying passengers and cargo throughout the world. Few aircraft designs have proved so versatile, reliable or enduring.

And that is what made our Cuban flight so memorable. We were not looking at a beautifully restored DC-3 in a museum or watching one at an air show. We simply bought our tickets, climbed aboard a working aircraft built in 1945, and flew to Havana. For an aviation enthusiast, it doesn’t get much better than that.

And yes — that unmistakable sound of those
two radial engines is something you never forget.

From Gooney Bird to Skytrain

The C-47 acquired almost as many names as it had uses. It became known as the Skytrain, Skytrooper, Dakota, Dak and, most affectionately of all, the Gooney Bird. Later gunship variants of related Douglas transports would acquire such colourful names as Spooky and Puff the Magic Dragon. Whatever the name, few aircraft have served in so many different roles or in so many parts of the world.

The origins of the aircraft lay in the development of the DC-2. Douglas designers realised that a wider fuselage would allow three-abreast seating and considerably increase passenger capacity without dramatically increasing the length of the aircraft. The result was the DC-3, an aircraft that would fundamentally change commercial aviation. More than 800 civilian DC-3s were built before wartime production transformed the aircraft into one of the most important military transports in history. Thousands of military derivatives followed, the best known being the C-47 Skytrain. Production expanded enormously during the Second World War, with assembly lines working at remarkable speed to meet military demand.

Transforming the passenger-carrying DC-3 into the military C-47 required several important modifications. These included a large double cargo door, a strengthened floor with cargo tie-down points, folding bench seats, stronger landing gear and other changes necessary for carrying troops, equipment and supplies. During the Second World War, the C-47 served in virtually every theatre of operations. It carried cargo and troops, evacuated wounded soldiers, transported staff and supplies and played a crucial role in major airborne operations from Sicily and New Guinea to Normandy, the Netherlands and southern France.

Its reputation for reliability became legendary. The aircraft operated from rough airstrips, crossed mountains and jungles and flew through appalling weather, often providing the only connection between isolated communities or military units and the outside world. The exploits of aircraft and crews pushed far beyond what their designers could ever have imagined, and the legend of the Gooney Bird was born. The DC-3 was successful because it combined qualities that were exceptional for its time: it was spacious, fast, comfortable, economical, remarkably rugged and dependable. Decades after its introduction, examples could still be found earning their keep in remote corners of the world.

That extraordinary longevity gave rise to an aviation saying that perhaps sums up the DC-3 better than anything else:

“The only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3.”

Source photos:
Wikipedia, files licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
Author: Ad Meskens.
Douglas_C-47_Dakota_PH-PBA
Author Björn Strey
PH-PBA_(8961968579)

For thousands of servicemen the C47 is remembered as the first aircraft they ever flew in carrying them between duties, to combat, to military hospitals or home from the war. For thousands who were pilots, navigators and ground crew, the C47 was the aircraft in which they learnt the aviation trade. To them it was and will be the most rugged, the most reliable, a most forgiving, the most useful -THE BEST- aircraft of all time.

As the war ended in 1945, thousands of C47’s became surplus to military needs and sold to airlines or foreign governments and others were put into storage. Scores returned to service a few years later to serve in the Berlin Airlift, over 100 being used for the year long operation.
In the United States, South America, Africa, Asia and throughout the Pacific, DC3’s that had seen military service became the mainstay of new and growing civil fleets. It was the aircraft that put many operators in business as air carriers.
Larger faster aircraft were being produced, the four engined DC4 and DC6/ DC3 production ended, the last off the assembly line was for Sabena Airways of Belgium in 1946. Now the DC3’s carried the smaller volume of less traveled routes. Many found new duties as corporate aircraft, exploration work for mining companies, fire fighting, crop dusting, scientific research and eco tourism.

She also became an amphibian with very large floats and retractable wheels, she was the first to land at both the North and the South Poles with skis attached and has done a JATO (Jet Assisted Takeoff) from an aircraft carrier with JATO pods on her belly.
More than 11,000 DC3s were built between 1935 and 1946 in the USA, Japan and Russia. The familiar streamlined profile heralded the jet age. After 1945 many entered service with fledgling commercial airlines. VH-TMQ is presented with the ambience of a bygone era and is one of the finest examples of a truly beloved aircraft, with approximately seventeen operating in Australia and only 800 left operating in the world today.

Many thousands of hours were expended in refurbishment, resulting in an aircraft resplendent in lavish 1950s style livery, and surveyed by the CASA for passenger charter operations. Our DC3 seats 28 passengers and is crewed by two Captains and a Hostess, additional crew can be requested. The aircraft cruises between 5000 and 8000 feet, flying at 150 knots. In 1940 a DC3 could be bought new for US$80,000