Posted on 10/25/2023 1:10:43 PM PDT by Red Badger
The Douglas Commercial 3 (DC-3) was one of the most mass-produced, well-engineered aircraft in history. Built to last, to land anywhere and never to break, Douglas churned out more than 11,000 of the type before and during World War II. But how many of these 80-year-old aircraft are still flying today?
The 80-year old aircraft that will never die For an aircraft that was built before the Second World War, you’d be forgiven for assuming most would have been retired by now. So, imagine our surprise when we discovered one had suffered a runway excursion in Colombia in August 2020. Out of interest, we thought we’d take a look at how many DC-3 are still accounted for right now.
According to information kindly shared by Michael Prophet and compiled by Coert Munk for the DC-3 Appreciation Society, there are an estimated 164 DC-3 in all variants flying on a regular basis. This includes military variants (the C-47 and Dakota) as well as those in commercial operation.
Michael notes that none are in regular passenger operation, although some are used for charter/enthusiast flights from time to time. Judging by the fact the Aliansa aircraft had 13 passengers on board, it seems some are perhaps used for special charters in this developing country too.
The bulk of the operational DC-3 fleet is in North America. 89 registrations are thought to be active in the US, with a further 19 in Canada. Australia is home to six of the type, while South Africa has around 16 registered as active. The UK has just three.
Some of the bigger fleets are found in developing countries, however. Colombia, home to Aliansa, has 17 registered models (16 active). Thailand is a hot spot too, with seven confirmed in existence. Elsewhere, Bolivia, China, France, India, Mauritania and New Zealand have between one and three aircraft a piece.
The ruggedness and bulletproof reliability of the DC-3 has made it strangely relevant to today’s missions, despite its 80-plus years of age. It can land on grass and dirt runways with ease, and requires a surprisingly conservative runway length, making it popular in developing countries.
Some have even been converted to turboprops, using the Rolls-Royce Dart engine or the Pratt & Whitney PT6A powerplant. Munk's research suggests that around 33% of the DC-3s had turboprop engines. Others are kept flying through salvaged spare parts and new old stock. The over-engineered nature of the DC-3 means many of the spare parts manufactured for it in the ’30s were never used, so there’s a surprising stock still around.
Munk also notes that a number of DC-3s have been refurbished in recent times. In 2020, around seven were believed to be undergoing preparations to fly again.
VIDEO AT LINK..............
The most popular pre-war plane In its heyday, the Douglas Commercial 3 (DC-3) was flown by a range of interesting airlines. Air France, Swissair, and Aer Lingus were some major European customers, but the real home of the DC-3 was in the United States.
The aircraft was operated by all manner of US airlines, some of whom are still with us today, others who succumbed to consolidation following deregulation of the industry. Notable operators included Delta Air Lines, Braniff Airways, Hawaiian Air Lines, Eastern Air Lines, Pan Am, and of course, United.
American Airlines was instrumental in the development of the DC-3, and along with TWA, Delta and United, it ordered an entire fleet of the type. The aircraft married reliability with comfort and performance, and quickly became the go-to model for long-distance flying.
Douglas DC-3 Aircraft fleets expanded significantly in the 1930s and 1940s. Photo: Getty Images It truly proved its worth during World War II, when it was the most widely used military transport, flying as the C-47 for the US Army Air Corps. It also found a place with the US Navy as the R4D, as well as the Marine Corps and Royal Air Force as the Dakota. So prevalent was the DC-3, President Dwight Ike Eisenhower named it one of the four most important things that won the war.
In 2019, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of D-Day, a mass take-off of 35 DC-3s was orchestrated from Duxford Aerodrome in the UK to Normandy. It was the largest assembly of the Douglas aircraft since WWII and something that must have been breathtaking to see.
Have you ever seen a DC-3 in action? Ever had the pleasure to fly in one? Let us know in the comments.
Perfectly aerodynamic for its airspeed. I saw a show in the 80s that said there are DC3s with over 200,000 air miles. No sign of stress fracturing anywhere. Perfect for short rough runways.
Would ANY airline name its flagship that today? Now it's...
Similarly, I was flown in a C-46 from Malmstrom AFB to Elmendorf in the Mid 1950’s.
It was bumpy, cold and uncomfortable.
Return flight in a KC-97 was a lot quicker and better.
I still can’t get used to canvas seats.
I jumped out of a C47 at Fort Benning during jump school. It was going so slow that it was almost as easy as jumping out of a helicopter.
PBY Catalina?
When I got to Vietnam in 1966, the C-47 was used as Puff the Magic Dragon gunships. We saw them fairly often. The tracers made quite a light show, but I remember the sound just as much. It was like one long and loud fart. Everyone tried to imitate it. We were starved for entertainment, I guess.
For me it was either 1980 or 1981, coming back to Oregon from California on a Forest Service flight. Lots of thunderstorms and a very rough ride that night.
Appears to be a C-43 with modified engines. They look like turbo-jets?
I have damn near that many miles on my 1975 Cessna 172M.
Turbo Props.
Great aircraft. Parachute Drop Zones across the country have used them for jump operations for years. I have hundreds of skydives from them.
They should never have stopped building them. It might be the perfect plane.
They would land then taxi to the chain link gate, do a 180 and leave one engine idling as they dropped and picked up passengers.
To this day, I still smile when I see one and hear that radial at idle. Pure music!!!
See them all the time, I live in Alaska.
Flew a DC-6 out to one of the remote USAF RADAR sites. Interesting trip. One that I lived thru.
Buffalo Airways seems to have collected 6 flightworthy airplanes and many many many spare engines, they seem to make quite a enterprise of shipping engines around canada and the untied states. There is tons of DC3 porn on their shows and youtube.
For north America.
There were 20+ to fly into oshkosh for the 70 years past D-DAY and nearly 30 at D-Day 70th. I think a flight of 10 made the trip from Halifax to the Ireland/UK/France on a single day. There provably are 30 doing cargo flights on demand, and another 40 flying to airshows 100+ hours a year. Another 40 in the US flying occasionally or just being someones private ride. Beyond the trainers, it is the most common airshow bird and fan club hauler.
The place they are not at is Africa because 100LL is $10/gal anyplace one wants to do a cargo hop to.
‘72-’73 I worked on N27R, Ray Peters pilot. One weekend he wanted to fly it, but did not have copilot. I shut shop down and went with him. Not rated for DC3. He let me fly for 30 minutes. Great memories. Would have lost my job if boss gound out, was worth it. SELS 200 hours at time.
They served me well
Them and Beech D18s
Pilots were another story lol
If you bought one in the 80s you could be sure DEA had painted it with transponder gear and were taking pics of whoever was looking at it to buy
Helluva bird
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