What is the most-produced airliner?

[Trailrider #896]

And how many of you have ridden in one, commercially? Have flown one even for a limited time?

[SHOOTIN FOX]

Boeing737 and yes, I have ridden in many of them.

[Trailrider #896]

Nope, guess again! Forget the blowtorches. They patch her up with masking tape (or maybe duct tape), paper clips and string. And still she flies, she never dies, Mathusulah with wings!

[WD Farren]

DC3?

 

Yes

[Trailrider #896]

6 minutes ago, bgavin said:

DC3?

 

Yes

Yup! About 172 of them still flying and making money for their owners. Some even re-equipped with turboprops (sacrlege).  

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

I have flown in several of them. Back in 1963 I flew in one from New Mexico to Los Angeles. The first time I saw how much the wings moved up & down, I started to look for rivets popping out...LOL!

When I was on the shuttle program our company had one we used to fly from Long Beach to Palmdale daily. Several times a week I had to use it. It was in 1977. The plane was supposed to have been owned by Cary Grant and had low hours on it (whatever that meant). One afternoon I was flying from Palmdale back to Long Beach. We had just lifted off and were maybe a couple of thousand feet up when the starboard engine started to smoke and the pilot shut it down. He said we were returning to Palmdale. We landed and took a bus home. We had several planes and I told my boss that was the last time I was flying in the DC3. We sold it a few months later.

[Rip Snorter]

Flew in the legendary DC3 twice, once as a boy, great excitement, and again as a young adult on a long defunct airline (I think, Caribair)  Was amazed at the climb up the aisle to my seat, the noise, and the black oil streaming from the nacelle. got there and back.  You may not recall the song about the legend.   

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.

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

FWIW, Helen Brimstone's mom was Donald Douglas's personal assistant back during the war.  Alice passed in 2017 at age 99 ~ she used to have some really cool and interesting stories about events, the industry, and especially people she'd met.  And yes, she'd had her share of DC-3 rides.  

 

 

Alice, in the background, at a Douglas board meeting, 1945

 

On her 98th birthday, holding her present from me.  

[Trailrider #896]

One winter night in college, I had Friday's off from classes. Decided to go home to my folks, and didn't want to drive, so I booked (walked up to the ticket counter) a flight from Peoria to Chicago O'hare. I was the only passenger on the plane. After takeoff, I asked the stewardess if she would ask the captain if I could come up to the flight deck, as I was an AFROTC cadet. She did, and the captain said sure. I went up and stood between the seats. We were about 5000 feet and there was a full moon and a 10/10 undercast. Looked like we were flying over a bed of cotton!

 

I got to actually fly an AF C-47 from the right seat for a few minutes on a fam flight. Old bird handled just like a truck with no power stearing! Oh, those were the days! 

[Calamity Kris]

My father worked at the Santa Monica facility back when Douglas was just starting to get into space.  He then moved to the "New" facility out in "rural" Orange County {Huntington Beach/Seal Beach}, California in 1964.  There was little out there but farms and orchards back then.  I used to live near and work at, the second DC3 manufacturing plant in Long Beach, CA.  I then moved to the HB/SB facilities myself.  Those were the days.

[Chantry]

10 hours ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

The plane was supposed to have been owned by Cary Grant and had low hours on it (whatever that meant). 

 

Low hours refers to the amount of time spent an aircraft spends airborne and the military still uses this method.  At some point commercial airliners changed from hours on the airframe to flight cycles, with 1 flight cycle being taking off, flying to a destination and landing.

 

Once an aircraft reaches a certain number of hours on the airframe it is generally taken out of service.  As an example, a C-130 is rated for about 30,000 hours on the airframe at which point they are flown to the boneyard in Arizona and taken out of service.

 

No one knows the maximum number of hours for a DC-3, the last I've heard, no DC-3/C-47 has ever crashed due a structural failure of the airframe.

[Kid Rich]

I could be wrong but in 1967 I believe what I rode in was one of those from Danang to Chu Lai. We were a little above tree top level. I asked why we were so low and they told me it was because the VC didn't have a chance to shoot at the plane at that height, by the time they saw us we were gone.

kR

[Still hand Bill]

About 6 years ago there was still one doing daily island hops in bvi.  I was amazed how loud it was.  Not a quiet airplane.  

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

56 minutes ago, Chantry said:

 

Low hours refers to the amount of time spent an aircraft spends airborne and the military still uses this method.  At some point commercial airliners changed from hours on the airframe to flight cycles, with 1 flight cycle being taking off, flying to a destination and landing.

 

Once an aircraft reaches a certain number of hours on the airframe it is generally taken out of service.  As an example, a C-130 is rated for about 30,000 hours on the airframe at which point they are flown to the boneyard in Arizona and taken out of service.

 

No one knows the maximum number of hours for a DC-3, the last I've heard, no DC-3/C-47 has ever crashed due a structural failure of the airframe.

I know what low hours mean as used in the aircraft industry. I was just using the comment as to what everybody who really didn't want to fly on it said to convince themselves to go. 

[Trailrider #896]

No need to worry about what to do if oxygen masks drop down...plane was NOT pressurized!  Issue once caused when steel radio tower cargo not tied  down, resulting in trim imbalance. Saved by two crewmembers going back and hauling them forward. Other incidents where pilot's skill and experience saved the plane and the day. (See Earnest K. Gann's book "Fate Is the Hunter") 

 

(Only "structural failure" is if you fly into cumulogranite. That's a cloud with a mountain in it!   Possible problem if the passengers are doing something with an illegal substance that results in a fire causing heavy smoke on the flight deck (pilot and copilot survived the crash. Passengers and at least one guitar did NOT!). 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

Eyesa, I believe he’s referring to Ricky Nelson’s plane crash. 

[Eyesa Horg]

Just now, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

Eyesa, I believe he’s referring to Ricky Nelson’s plane crash. 

Ah, thank you!

[Trailrider #896]

Maybe I should have said, "Allegedly doing something...." Don't know if that was ever proven, or what the cause of the crash was announced by the FAA!  Don't want to get sued for liable! Of course, I never stated who was involved, did I? 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

6 hours ago, Trailrider #896 said:

Maybe I should have said, "Allegedly doing something...." Don't know if that was ever proven, or what the cause of the crash was announced by the FAA!  Don't want to get sued for liable! Of course, I never stated who was involved, did I? 

From an AI search. I’m not convinced there wasn’t some culpability by the passengers and the NTSB didn’t want to tarnish Nelson’s clean cut reputation. 

“The crash of Ricky Nelson's plane on December 31, 1985, was caused by a fire that originated in the cabin, likely from a malfunctioning, gasoline-fueled heater. While the exact cause of the fire couldn't be definitively pinpointed, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation found evidence pointing to the heater as the source. Rumors of drug use, specifically freebasing cocaine, as a cause were investigated but ultimately dismissed by the NTSB. 
 

The crash of Ricky Nelson's plane on December 31, 1985, was caused by a fire that originated in the cabin, likely from a malfunctioning, gasoline-fueled heater. While the exact cause of the fire couldn't be definitively pinpointed, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation found evidence pointing to the heater as the source. Rumors of drug use, specifically freebasing cocaine, as a cause were investigated but ultimately dismissed by the NTSB.”

 

 

 

[SHOOTIN FOX]

Douglas only produced 609 dc-3 for civilian use. Boeing has produced over 11000 737 for civilian use.

Please be specific in your criteria.

 

No foul, but compare apple to apples.

[Rip Snorter]

Wait, so they just threw away military planes after the big war?  No, they were sold for continued use all over the world, and still serve.  No one used your qualifier.

[SHOOTIN FOX]

The initial post said commercial. Not an argument. 
For commercial use had to have an N number registration. 
Federal, state, military use does not qualify as commercial operation.

And yes, the government scrapped thousands of them.

[Trailrider #896]

"Goony Bird", "Dizzy Three", C-47, "Dakota", R4D, Sky Train...they are all DC-3's!  There will be some around, somewhere, when all those Boeing jets are reprocessed into aluminum foil, or sent to the bone yard! 

[Still hand Bill]

19 hours ago, SHOOTIN FOX said:

Douglas only produced 609 dc-3 for civilian use. Boeing has produced over 11000 737 for civilian use.

Please be specific in your criteria.

 

No foul, but compare apple to apples.

If you count military, it’s about 16k on the dc3, but the 737 will overtake it if ai is correct.   It’s suggesting that counting open orders 737 production will be over 17k with about 12k built already.