railfancwb Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 An early commercial airliner was the Douglas DC-3. A pre-WWII design, many saw military service as C-47 if memory serves. Possibly the oldest DC-3 still flying is based in Shelbyville TN https://flagshipdetroit.org/ 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Posted July 1, 2021 Administrators Share Posted July 1, 2021 Here is the Showa/Nakajima L2D. It was built under license in Japan before WWII and production continued during the war. 487 were built, between 1940 and 1945. There aren’t many differences between them and the Douglas aircraft. One difference is the front Windows and windscreens. Their design was changed to simplify production. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Posted July 1, 2021 Administrators Share Posted July 1, 2021 This is the Lisunov Li-2, NATO code name Cab, produced under license in the Soviet Union. As many as 6,157 of them were built, in a variety of models and configurations. They remained in production in the USSR through 1952. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Posted July 1, 2021 Administrators Share Posted July 1, 2021 Depending on who you ask, there are still between 180 and 300 DC-3s and military variants in regular military or commercial service, mostly as cargo aircraft. That is damned impressive for an aircraft that is more than eight decades old. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Posted July 1, 2021 Administrators Share Posted July 1, 2021 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Posted July 1, 2021 Administrators Share Posted July 1, 2021 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Posted July 1, 2021 Administrators Share Posted July 1, 2021 The DC-3 design evolved into the 4-engine Douglas DC-4/C-54 Skymaster, which entered service in 1942. A bit over 1,200 DC-4s and military variants were built. The C-54 Skymasters played a big part in the delivery of supplies to West Berlin, during the Berlin Airlift. They were called the Roseninbombers (Raisin Bombers) by the West Germans. I’m sure you have all heard the stories behind that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Posted July 1, 2021 Administrators Share Posted July 1, 2021 Here is a C-54 performing a candy drop on approach to Tempelhof Airport, during the Airlift. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Posted July 1, 2021 Administrators Share Posted July 1, 2021 42 minutes ago, railfancwb said: An early commercial airliner was the Douglas DC-3. A pre-WWII design, many saw military service as C-47 if memory serves. Possibly the oldest DC-3 still flying is based in Shelbyville TN https://flagshipdetroit.org/ That is a great picture. What a classy lady. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipedreams Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 (edited) Sometime around 1965-68 I used to fly Ozark Airlines DC3's, they were a regional airline in the central part of the country. Like many airlines in the 1950s, Ozark took advantage of the government’s surplus C-47 inventory, and never bought a new DC-3. The company took each used airplane and refitted it so dramatically that passengers thought they were boarding a new DC-3 each time. Eventually, Ozark’s fleet of DC-3s grew to 26. The oldest was #6, and built in 1936, flew more than 30 years and about nine million miles (approximately 360 times around the world). Edited July 1, 2021 by pipedreams 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batesmotel Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 The first aircraft I flew in was a C-47 converted back to a passenger/cargo plane. Passengers up front and US Mail in back. Flew it Salt Lake to Denver just barely over the mountains. Next leg was to Albuquerque in a 707. What a difference. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Posted July 1, 2021 Administrators Share Posted July 1, 2021 2 minutes ago, Batesmotel said: The first aircraft I flew in was a C-47 converted back to a passenger/cargo plane. Passengers up front and US Mail in back. Flew it Salt Lake to Denver just barely over the mountains. Next leg was to Albuquerque in a 707. What a difference. “Took my chances on a big jet-planeNever let 'em tell ya that they're aw-ooh-all the same” Going to California — Led Zeppelin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Historian Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Two years ago a friend of mine exited a C-47 mid-flight over Normandy, France. He is is a paratrooper (retired, CWO) and it was part of a group that did it...June 6th, 2019. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunboat1 Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 I've jumped several times from a former C-47, radically upgraded and carefully maintained. It's a wonderful aircraft design, and a link to the past. Just magical. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walt Longmire Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 There are a lot of DC3's and C47's in Alaska. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Eric Posted July 3, 2021 Administrators Share Posted July 3, 2021 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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