The Douglas DC-3: The Plane That Flew For Almost A Century | The DC-3 Story | Spark
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- Опубликовано: 3 фев 2024
- With more than 16,000 built, the DC-3 became the world’s most successful aircraft and legend in several wars. During both World Wars, the military version of the DC-3 became a crucial factor for success. But by now the Basler factory in Oshkosh near Chicago seems to be an airplane boneyard. Several DC-3 aircrafts seem to be lying about in disrepair. But through 45,000 hours of work, 80 employees hammer, screw, and drill a wreck into a modern aircraft. The DC3 is the only aircraft in the world that can be fully rejuvenated after 80 years of service and then continue to fly for another 50 years or more.
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I was a Marine Corps avionics tech in the late 1960s so got to fly as a passenger in C47/DC-3s on multiple occasions. Puff the Magic Dragon was a truly awesome sight at night watching the tracers arcing toward the ground. Great to see the bird is still flying.
In 1960 I flew from London to Madrid on a DC3. The flight was full of air pockets and more like a roller coaster than any other flight I have ever been on. However, I'm very happy to have flown on such a classic plane.
I had the same experience in the 70's only in the states. I have flown on a DC3 a couple of times, it was quite a experience and a privilege! Loved every minute of it!
I had the same experience in April 1961. The flight from NYC to Houston made several stops along the east coast. It was supposed to stop in New Orleans, but a severe thunderstorm prevented it. It was a roller coaster ride through the storm.
I flew 1,600 hours in the DC3's & 24 hours in a C47.
All the DC-3's I flew had the R1820 9 Cylinder Wright Cyclone (B17, Dauntless etc) & the C47 had the R1830 14 cylinder Pratts - almost identical to operate.
I had 1,000 hours in VH-ANR our favourite ( Still in the Queensland Air Museum Australia) - it was pre war around 1936, used by the Dutch KLM Indonesia Airline until the Japanese invasion when it came to Australia - flown by the US Army - RAAF & then civilian.
Coming from only flying single engine fixed prop & gear to a DC-3 was a big jump for me - our group of trainees spent 1.5 hours learning how to taxi & that is a challenge!
In the air it is a big heavy Cessna, very forgiving & I loved flying it, except in pouring rain near the lowest safe altitude with METO Power & your still going down it's not fun.😮😊
It flew, everywhere, in All continents. The most successful airplane ever. I flew in the last DC 3, that the Marine Corps had. It was a kick.
flies* wikipedia says about 150 are still in active use :D
Truly one of the finest aircraft ever produced - in my opinion.
I agree. A brilliant design! It's only rival is the B-52...
@hrkjýdley911
@@hrdley911 the TU95 has also been in service as long as the B52..... the DC3 predates both of them. the DC3 is truly exceptional, an aircraft that has far outlived anyone involved in it's design. rugged, reliable, capable. im 42 years old and i wouldn't be surprised if they are still being flown when im in the dirt.
@@andrewdonohue1853Thanks. Forgot about the TU95. There's just something clean and elegant about the DC3/C47 for me. Years ago on a trip to Aruba, I noticed 5 or 6 parked on the opposite side of the field. A local told me they had been idle for some time. Hope they weren't turned into Chinese cars...😮
When I was a kid here in Costa Rica in the 1950s, I flew in DC 3s a couple of times a year all the way up until 1986, when it was replaced. Beautiful memories.
You were a pilot at 5 years old?!
@@teeess9551 I think he was saying as a passenger not pilot in command...
Was always fascinated with the DC3 put together a model of one and hung it from the ceiling in my bedroom when i was a kid in the 60's.
...unlike modern airliners that have bedrooms inside the machines. For business class pax and for the CREW(!).
I found this video after watching another about the DC3 and how it’s still flown road in Colombia and basically used as a flying bus for people that live in remote villages in the rain forests. Usually one mechanic always flys with the 2 pilots! It’s amazing that they still fly!!
FYI. DC-3 fleets and a few C-47s out of Villavicencio, two-hour flights, over the deep amazone jungles heading southeast near the border of Brazil; no ramp, no tower, no radar, no lights, no ground crew. They need help -- running out of parts. Pilots only get paid when flying cargo and passengers on broad day light -- no ace dares flying at night! The Colombian government AEROCIVIL is considering grounding the fleet permanently and use rivers to transport -- license to operate expires soon and no money! They have a monument on display made of marbol with everyone´s souls whom never returned home.
Thanks for sharing. I flew with my mother during the mid-1940s from the west coast to Washington D.C. in a Douglas DC-3. During the VietNam War I communicated with a C-47 gunship while it raked VC with automatic gunfire.
Next to the F-16 jet, certainly the most beautiful of all aircraft is the piston-driven DC-3, the first airplane I ever flew in as a boy, with Arthur Godfrey, no less, at the controls. Now 77, tears are in my eyes as I watch this wonderful tribute to a fabulously-designed craft. Is it possible to fall in love with a THING? I am now 77. When I was 72, walking, alone along the beaches of Northern Luzon, my eyes were diverted upwards from a shadow in the sand, to the shadow of a C-47 being used as a beach apartment, next to a small hotel that used a fully restored C-47 - in civilian garb - as a beach-side bar, owned by the son of a pilot who flew the same plane to re-supply troops during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines during WWII. Is it possible to fall in love with a thing? If that "thing" is a C-47, then the answer, as my tear-drenched eyes revealed, is a definite and enthusiastic "YES".
the F16 is ok, but as far as jets the F86 is a better looking airplane. i think the B17, P51, and spitfire are all gorgeous. the P38 has nice clean lines.
My father was a fresh young A&P mechanic in 1951 joining Capital Airlines. My first plane trip was on a DC-3 from PIT to DCA in '54. Amazing how much I still recall of that era. The airline was like extended family. I would get lots of lap time on the pilots of the day thinking I was really flying the plane. Later in the 80's trips to the Caribbean would include island hopping in '3s when ever I could. It played a considerable part in my development. Loved every minute.
Wonderful. What a beautifully told testimony to the stalwart of all aviation. Very impressive story structure, excellent reveals with the connective elements from the rebuilds. As a piece of investigative archival work, you guys have truly knocked it out of the park. I was in the Australian Air League as a kid and the first time I saw a DC-3 was at Camden Field, NSW. It was small inside, but so beautiful. Thank you for this. Absolutely gorgeous! Mx
My grandfather flew a tour in the CBI in B-24s, then B-17s, then C-47s. Three days after his last flight in the C-47, he was flying DC-3s for Continental Airlines where he would spend 35 years.
As a junior in college, I was on the second unit debate team of the top ranked University of Kentucky-- our top team won a trip to Hawaii and a first class there. Debate and our coach DOC BLYTON had such a rank on the campus that our team, second boys and girls, were flown on the school's DC3 to our chairman tournament in West Virginia.
The schools' DC3 was my very first airplane flight. I already loved the plane from building models of it, what's the thrill of getting in the rear end and climbing up to a seat was fantastic. As a Kentucky farm boy in his first and only dress suit, I was either second affirmative or a finisher as second argumentative. The DC3 took off and as we traveled the various parts of the plane took up their role as vibrating so the whole plane sang to me with different notes as we got airborne. The plane was also used to carry the football team and the band.....so smelled strongly of beer and vomit.
My teammate, first affirmative, was a cute coed who charmed the males of opposition into defeat. Those boys had times to know what hit them as she and I cleaned up the metals.
looking out i saw a lush valley... in a blink coming as the end of the runway we were to land on. The same thing happened on take off because the runway ran out at the edge of a drop off to a steep valley. that wonderful smelly DC3 gave me my first airplane ride.
As a family we flew from Reno to Cleveland on a DC 3 in the mid 1950's I remember climbing up the slope of the plane to our seats, cloth curtains, and meals served on china with silverware and napkins. Best of all was the invitation from the captain view the midwest from the cockpit. It was a great experience for a young boy to embrace a future I have never shied away from.
climbing to your seat lol thats exactly the first thing i remember about that aircraft
This needs to be played in ALL schools 🙏✅❤️
Love those old photos and videos of the planes being built
That's a great documentary. Thank you. It brought back a fond memory of my first experience of flying. We flew from Eastleigh Airport (UK) to Jersey (Chanel Islands) when I was about 8 years old in the early 1950's. No one else at school had ever been in an aircraft, so I was a celebrity for a short while. Of course I had no idea of the eventful history of the DC3, but I knew that was what I was flying on. The "Air Stewardess" came through the cabin with a tray of Barley Sugar sweets from which we were allowed to take one. I was told that it was to help with the pressure change on my ears. Flying is simply not the same any more.
Great film, thanks.
My late neighbor flew DC2/3 & C47, early TWA pilot and the C47 over Burma Hump a number of times.
Long career at TWA into the 1980’s
Wonderful man; farm boy from Michigan.
Draft horses to Jet Engines in a lifetime.
DC-3 is one of the best Aircraft ever made.
I would say the best aircraft ever made
By a long shot!@@kirkmorrison6131
absolutely wonderful documentary on the world's most reliable and versatile airplane, i love it!
but one omission though, no mention of "Buffalo Airways", who use some of these airplanes to deliver goods, mail and passengers to the most remote places in the arctic from their home base, first Yellowknife and now Hay River, Canada...
To say that it’s an ICONIC design is an understatement.
A friend that flew from PBY and DC3 all way to 777, says that the only aircraft he misses is the DC3
My father was an American Airlines employee for many years. He finished in the Dallas Office. One of the last times I saw him, we went to the AA museum in Dallas/Ft. Worth. Parked on the grounds was a beautiful DC3
When I was a kid, I had a neighbor who flew the C47 in the Pacific during WWII. He talked often about how great the plane was. One story I remember was that they had an oil leak and they had to land on an island. The only oil they could find was vegetable oil and they flew the plane with vegetable oil in the engine. Amazing.
I flew on one of these in 1960 from Lubbock to El Paso, TX. One novel feature is that as you land, the tail drops down making the aisle tilt up.
The first plane I ever flew on was a Southern Airways DC3 in 1966. I flew from New Orleans to Monroe< LA. It is less than 300 miles but it made stops in Baton Rouge and Greenville, MS. I also flew on a C47 from NKP Thailand back to Da Nang, Vier Nam in 1970.
I have loved this airplane since my childhood, it is a wonderful achievement of aeronautical engineering. DC3's are forever.
I still charter one of these on a regular basis to fly air freight for my company. Always nice to see it taxing in to the ramp. It is funny it still turns heads at the FBO from pilots and passengers alike,
Most aircraft were built for the military. There actually was very little DC3 built for the civilian market because most were C47.
The Basler turbo prop version has to have around 16 inches of fuselage added to balance out the engines. But it’s a totally new aircraft basically.
Last contract as aircrew in 1993 DC3 for Southern Air Transport-Burlington, Biggs Army Airfield TX to Chihuahua MX had brand new radials and just out of maintenance at Wright Paterson. It was the very first DC 3 built. Our first flight we had fire in #1 on the final into Chihuahua. The valve push rod in one jug had beat itself and bent. Pratt and Whitney came with an engine change kit with in 8 hours. That contract lasted 6 months. Out of 40 years of aero contracts that was one of me favorite!
1965. On my way to my first assignment in the U.S. Air Force in Georgis. Flew out of NY to Atlanta. Southern Airway would bring me to Albany Ga. Being used to boarding a plane with level " floor", I was surprised to have to walk up an incline to my seat. A DC-3.: 1969...I would fly to a base in Thailand to repair an F-105 fighter bomber....This was a cargo DC-3....1972 -73..Stationed at Rhein Main AB West Germany. A C-47, Norwegian Air Force, landed. Got to talk to the crew chief. That aircraft was built in 1943.
My dad flew the “hump” into china during ww2 I’m assuming they were in c-47’s, and then was a command pilot during the Berlin Airlift which I was told by my mom were the pilots who showed new pilots the route that I guess was a real narrow path that they had to maintain. He was also on the last ship back from Corregidor before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and I guess everyone who was left there ended up on the “Bataan Death March”, pretty exciting stuff. He flew RC-121’s out of McClellan AFB in the 50’s (radar planes for the early warning system) to detect Soviet missile’s and retired as a Major before joining the FAA, I couldn’t be more proud of him, his name was Maurice C (Jack) Drouin from Laconia, New Hampshire.
I have been on these planes many times in my childhood.
Wonderful planes , wonderful times.
So pleased that people care for these birds.
Great video, enjoyed it..
Thanks...
Hey SPARK wake up! It's still flying in many parts of the world!
With 100 years of service coming up in a few years.
*Brilliantly done! What a wonderful presentation of the WW2 "Jeep in the sky"!*
The first plane I flew on was a DC3 in the early 50's the last time I flew on one was in the late 70's. Not my last flight but the worst ever was in the 60's when I had developed a bad head cold; my family was moving to northern Wisconsin, and I had been accepted at a private school in Atlanta, with financial aid, so my parents wanted me to see if I would rather go to the public school in N. Wisconsin. We got on the DC 3 in Chicago. UP and DOWN to Madison, Steven's Point, Wausau, and FINALLY Rhinelander. The pain was as bad as any I've ever had, but my parents treated me to chocolate malted therapy and that helped. The last DC3 flight I had was in South America, not too bad at all.
The most beautiful bird ever.
1968 I was an 18 year old parachute rigger making my first jump..... C47. Then I was stationed for 2 years at the Naval Test Center at El Centro California where I made another 148 test jumps, mostly C47
Too bad the audio couldn't pick up the growl of those radial engines. Nothing like it in the world...
And the whooshing noise of an engine fire on start-up!
Did anyone notice around 8.30, Ashley says "...aircraft stories can tell." instead of "...stories aircraft can tell." 😀
In the small islands of the Caribbean, and in other developing countries, the DC 3 was used for most of their flights.
We lived in the out islands and used to fly in them back and forth to the islands. A DC3 brings back such happy memories of sitting beside my father in the plane and he would point things out to me and taught me the basics of flying. My brother hated flying as he would get air sick. But it brings back memories, very happy memories
I flew a Dakota (DC3, British name) in Africa, Angola, many times in the sixties. In 1975 the Cubans came to Angola and among the many things they stole from the country to Cuba were some DC3s that were not in use at the time. I had already flown in the Super-Constellation, and having flown in many planes, small - very small, just canvas - and large, the DAKOTA (DC3) is without doubt still my favourite. Even when some rivets were missing and I could see the sky through the fuselage. There is a book (1963?) with a chapter called DC3, the Rolls-Royce of the airs. Incredible stories about it.
It flew for over a century and still flying in some places! I flew in one of these planes down in South America some years ago and in the 90s from Orlando to the Florida Keys on a nostalgia airliner that's no longer in service, a bit unnerving but I'm glad I had these experiences. Would love to do it again.
The condition of those new old stock parts says a lot about the men and women during that time period and their attention to the details to preserve these war critical parts.
The first airplane I flew in was a DC-3 in the early/mid 1950s. It was a United Airlines plane. The flight was from somewhere in Virginia to somewhere in Ohio. During an intermediate stop, I was taken to the cockpit and the pilot demonstrated reversing the pitch of the propellers. The ground crew saw a little kid's head sticking out of the cockpit window while the propellers were rotating in the hub. Someone came to check on what that kid was up to. I thought that pilot must have the best job in the world.
About 35 years ago I saw a DC-3 configured as a floatplane by Folsom’s Flying Service take off from Moosehead Lake in Maine.
When the mainline airlines ended DC-3 service, many ended up flying as commuter airlines (hub to small town airports). Gadsden (a city of 50,000 in Alabama) had DC-3 service from 1947 to about 1968 (when the DC-3 was replaced by a second-hand Martin 404)
My Dad flew them all over the US and Germany in 1953 and I guarded Puffs on augmentee duty while in Thailand in 1969. Nice too know others will have the experience in some form probably past something else re-landing on the moon.
The ageless beauty
Brilliant Aircraft excellent documentary too , Ta!
Great top documentary,,,more of this type,many more,post 👍💯🇵🇹
used to fly between st thomas and san juan on aero virgin islands in the late 1980s. the pilot, rené juncosa, was also my landlord in st thomas. amazing aircraft!
Flew on one in the 60's with the Boy Scouts and then again in 1972 from Clark AFB to Manila, R.P.
An aircraft that looks beautiful and sounds great.
I have had hundreds of flights on 3s and C-47s. Skydiver. The finest aircraft I have ever had a ride in. Flew one once for a few minutes, the pilot needed to pee. He just said, "Take it." I did almost nothing,, the plane flew itself far better than I could. Great bird.
My first flight was on an Indian Airlines Corp DC 3 Dakota in 1963, along with my late beloved Mother from Port Blair in the Andaman Islands to Calcutta, with a refueling stop in Rangoon Burma. Total flying time was 7 hours at an altitude of 12,000 feet. It was rather cold and we were given blankets by the flight attendants.
I still recall, with pleasure, the bumpy DC3 rides in the mid-1950s from New Bedford, MA to NYC. I was occasionally allowed to fly alone. A vending machine in the airport sold flight insurance. I always bought the cheapest policy. And never crashed.
The DC 3 and the Catalina PBY are dreamships. Forever.
One of the great planes ever.
The only thing that can replace a DC 3 is another DC 3. They are almost a Grandmother's plane to fly, for a multi engine. I have an original US Army Air Corps manual for Pilots of the Gooney Bird. I am lucky to have had the few hours at the controls of one in the late 70's and early 1980s
Its said that when the last B-52 is retired and sent to the boneyard, its crew will be picked up in a DC-3.
A great video about the DC3 . It was a Work-Horse and it's still in use, ,even though Jet-Engines are used in today's planes.
The C-47 was also used in Vietnam in an Electronic Warfare version. Combined with the AC role, the EC version made the C-47 one of the most VALUABLE aircraft in that war.
Amazing air craft she is ❤
great stuff
I remember seeing one at the airport in Bardstown, Ky.(1969).When I was @6yrs old.
I thought it was the world's biggest plane then!
What an incredible story, and for us Plane buffs, a century of this plane in only a handful of years, as in the 30's
Would be interesting to take a DC-3 and make a modernised version of it.
There used to be a company that did nothing but restore DC-3s. Not sure if they are still in business.
Basler Pt6
In South Africa the Dakota is still being used to offload paratroopers
The National Warplane Museum at Geneseo, New York flies one & has a warbird air show every summer.
C-47, Dakota? You left out Good Ship Lollipop!
I am so glad I had a chance to fly on both the C-47 and the DC3 when they were in common use, and not as novel asa they are today. I am almost as old as the plane.
what a delightful part of history.
This Plane Is a Beautiful ❤ It 😊
FATE IS THE HUNTER by Ernest Gann. the greatest book I ever read. Gann is a masterful storyteller, recounting his education as a co-pilot, his several instructors and fellow pilots and their many harrowing experiences in the DC3. Pilots and planes fell from the skies. Gann tells his stories escaping certain death many times over.
The DC-3 is still in active service all over the world.
It’s been upgraded, stretched, and re engined in many cases, but it’s still a DC-3. There’s a frantic search for airframes to put back into service.
Nobody has built anything that can do what it does since.
What a classic!
if only Donald Wills Douglas was still here to see that one of his creations is still in such high demand, 88 years after it's maiden flight...
💪💯💜
Thanks!
Glad you liked the documentary, thank you so much for your support! - The Spark team
With all the things that could have gone wrong on D Day and....all the things that did...like the paratroopers getting scattered to the winds....its a miracle they achieved what they did. The DC3 was a critical part of pulling off D Day and....keeping the troops supplied and fighting. The shear will and determination of thos young men fighting was ultimately the difference....along with our allied troops.
In the 1960s, I was lucky to get a few trips around the eastern US on a C47 as part of an AFROTC program, even getting a small amount of stick time. I wonder if the craft in question got converted to the Viet Nam version. It would be interesting to know if it survived the conflict. I have been associated with the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, NY, which maintains W7, a D-Day veteran, but haven't had a ride yet.
My father flew C-47’s in the Army Air Corps in WWII in Europe and North Africa. He was part of the D-Day invasion fleet, but as a glider pilot. But thankfully his wave wasn’t needed and was cancelled.
One story out of many I’ll share is that he once told me that during their pre-flight walk around they would always check the ground under the engines where the plane was parked. They were looking for oil. And if they didn’t find at least a small puddle, they would call their crew chief over and instruct him to have the oil level checked. Because lack of oil stains meant that the engine was running low!
Dad passed away in 2017 at the age of 93. Thanks for the memories.
I flew in a C-47 being used to haul freight in Alaska. I rode in the jump seat and there was a Plaque in the cockpit that told of that aircraft being used on D-Day by the Canadian Air Force.
Still flies today, as a cargo plane between Nassau Bahamas and OPF Florida
Wow as a child I read a Biggles novel "flight of the condor" He and his mates captured mengela in south america flying in a dc3
Thanks
I love the film; I hat the title. "Why not DC-3: the Plane to Fly 100 Years?"
If you ask a kid to draw an airplane, 99% of the time, you'll get a DC-3. 🙂🙃🫠
Ashley is such a gem.
I flew on one when I was young, must have been a rugged aircraft
"Now restored to her former glory"…… 3:42 Not quite historically to her former glory. This DC-3 in Switzerland has modern controls and displays in the cockpit.
I caught a flight from Korea to Japan in 1968. What a great airplane.
First plane I ever flew in back at the end of December 1964 down to Lackland for basic training. Nice flight but the ground sure went by slowly.
As of 2023 it is estimated about 150 are still flying. Remember reading on a evacuation flight in india, people scrambled aboard unchecked, when landing 108 people got off!
A DC3 flew me from New York City to Houston in April 1961.
There's one parked near Paris Tx on HW 82, if you know when to look.
Wow
An in-depth look at an aircraft design which was uber-successful.
DC 3 Dakota was an awesome aircraft I flew in one in 1976 in India belonging to Indian Air Force.
Ok you DC-3 Pilots or owners, question time:
Is she pressurized ?
What's typical cruise altitude ?
Ceiling is ?
Cruise speed & max ?
Range ?
How's economy ?
Square windows a problem like in the BOAC Comet ?
Made in McDonnell Douglas High Desert California plant ?
Doesn't Dan Gryder fly one ?
Love this historical view !!!