89th Anniversary of the First Flight of the DC-3

[Chantry]

I mean to post this yesterday, but life got in the way.

 

On December 17, 1935 the first Douglas DC-3 took flight.  Eighty nine years later the design is still going strong with the DC-3 still in regular use around the world with no end in sight.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-3

 

I forget where I read it, but the comment was 'the only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3".  Eighty nine years later there is still nothing that can match the cargo capacity, short/rough field performance and low operating costs of a DC-3.

 

And when an individual airframe might be getting a bit old, then off you go to https://www.baslerturbo.com/ who'll take that tired airframe, take the plane apart and replace, rebuild and strengthen the airframe and  start the plane's life cycle all over again.

 

Argentina just bought a Basler BT-67 for Antarctica duties.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2024 by Chantry

[Rip Snorter]

In case you missed it.

The Gooney Bird
by Oscar Brand
from his ELEKTRA album
"Up in the Air"

 

 

---

Pressed especially for Douglas Aircraft Inc. by Elektra Records.

Ref ZTSP 69199-2A

---

In '51 they tried to ground the noble DC-3,
And so some lawyers brought the case before the CAB,
The Board examined all the facts behind their great oak portal,
And then pronounced these simple words, "The Gooney Bird's immortal."

THEY PATCH HER UP WITH MASKING TAPE,
WITH PAPER CLIPS AND STRINGS,
AND STILL SHE FLIES, SHE NEVER DIES.
METHUSELAH WITH WINGS.

The Army toasts their SkyTrain now in lousy scotch and soda,
The Tommies raise their tankards high to cheer their old Dakota,
Some claim the C-47's best, or the gallant R4D,
Forget that claim, they're all the same, the noble DC-3.

(chorus)

Douglas built the ship to last, but nobody expected,
The crazy heap would fly and fly no matter how they wrecked it.
While nations fall and men retire and jets get obsolete,
The Gooney Bird flies on and on, at 11,000 feet.

(chorus)

No matter what they do to her, The Gooney Bird still flies,
One crippled plane was fitted out with one wing half the size,
She hunched her shoulders, then took off, I know this makes us laugh
One wing askew, and yet she flew ... The DC-2 and a half.

(chorus)

She had her faults, but after all, who's perfect in this sphere?
Her heating system was a gem, and we loved her for her gear.
Of course, her windows leaked a bit when the rain came pouring down,
She'd keep you warm, but in a storm it's possible you'd drown.

(chorus)

Well now she flies the feeder routes and carries mail and freight,
She's just an airborne office or a flying twelve ton crate,

THEY PATCH HER UP WITH MASKING TAPE,
WITH PAPER CLIPS AND STRINGS,
AND STILL SHE FLIES, SHE NEVER DIES.
METHUSELAH WITH WINGS.

 

 

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

8 minutes ago, Chantry said:

I mean to post this yesterday, but life got in the way.

 

On December 17, 1935 the first Douglas DC-3 took flight.  Eighty nine years later the design is still going strong with the DC-3 still in regular use around the world with no end in sight.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-3

 

I forget where I read it, but the comment was 'the only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3".  Eighty nine years later there is still nothing that can match the cargo capacity, short/rough field performance and low operating costs of a DC-3.

 

And when an individual airframe might be getting a bit old, then off you go to https://www.baslerturbo.com/ who'll take that tired airframe, take the plane apart and replace, rebuild and strengthen the airframe and  start the plane's life cycle all over again.

 

Argentina just bought a Basler BT-67 for Antarctica duties.

 

 

 

 

 

And in 2125 the Goony Bird will be flying in replacement parts for B-52s, C-130s, and KC-135s.

[Rip Snorter]

More https://www.dc-3.co.za/

[watab kid]

not to hijack but the other day was the anniversary of the band leader glen millers plane disappearing over the english channel , not a DC-3 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Funny that the business is not there to start up a production line in a factory, but rebuilding one at a time bit by bit works for a small business.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I worked for McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach CA for awhile.  We got three or four in for rebuild, two from Alaska and one from Canada. (Those northern climes are heel on airplanes.  I was working graveyard and things were generally pretty quiet, but one night all the lights were on in the south east buildings.  I made sure my guys were all in place and working and bicycled over to see what was going on.

 

 A DC-3 was on a trailer being brought very slowly in from  Long Beach airport (which extended to our shops.  Underneath was a mess and both engines had damage.

 

 I  asked what had happened.  The plane was flying in form someplace in the midwest and one landing gear wouldn't deploy so the pilot decided to get his feet off the floor and do a wheels up landing.

 

I was later informed that it had suffered "minor damage, mostly cosmetic" and we were putting it back in shape.  It had come in for an air frame inspection.  Two weeks later I was going off shift and watched it taking off.

 

Those planes will wear out in a few hundred more years, and someone will still be fixing them when necessary,  but unless they are totally demolished they just won't quit.

 

Side note:  My tool cribs had tooling to make frame and fenders for some  1932 Ford coupes that Ford had made for the 50th anniversary of the Little Deuce Coupe.  I missed that by about nine months.  All the cars (50 of them) had been completed and delivered before I was hired.  We had been a sub-contractor on this project.

[Trailrider #896]

I believe they now use duct tape instead of masking tape.  But the results are the same!  As an AFROTC cadet back in the early '60's. they let me fly one for a few minutes from the right seat. Handled just about like a big ol' truck, without power stearing.  One took off from Bunker Hill (now Grissom) AFB, with a bunch of us cadets on board. Got a little quieter and we were told we had to head back. Had an oil leak on right engine. Landed with no problem.  Turned out she had blown a jug.  Got us another plane. No matter.  Used to fly commercial on DC-3's.  No worries about loss of cabin pressure...there wasn't any!  Only way to crash one, besides flying into a cumulogranite (cloud with a mountain in it) is to start a fire in the cabin, like a well-know singer is alleged to have done. Pilots survived, however.

[watab kid]

13 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

I worked for McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach CA for awhile.  We got three or four in for rebuild, two from Alaska and one from Canada. (Those northern climes are heel on airplanes.  I was working graveyard and things were generally pretty quiet, but one night all the lights were on in the south east buildings.  I made sure my guys were all in place and working and bicycled over to see what was going on.

 

 A DC-3 was on a trailer being brought very slowly in from  Long Beach airport (which extended to our shops.  Underneath was a mess and both engines had damage.

 

 I  asked what had happened.  The plane was flying in form someplace in the midwest and one landing gear wouldn't deploy so the pilot decided to get his feet off the floor and do a wheels up landing.

 

I was later informed that it had suffered "minor damage, mostly cosmetic" and we were putting it back in shape.  It had come in for an air frame inspection.  Two weeks later I was going off shift and watched it taking off.

 

Those planes will wear out in a few hundred more years, and someone will still be fixing them when necessary,  but unless they are totally demolished they just won't quit.

 

Side note:  My tool cribs had tooling to make frame and fenders for some  1932 Ford coupes that Ford had made for the 50th anniversary of the Little Deuce Coupe.  I missed that by about nine months.  All the cars (50 of them) had been completed and delivered before I was hired.  We had been a sub-contractor on this project.

thats where my father and his friend were working in 1941 - till dec 7th , then they were driving home to enlist ,