Can't post because; Getty Images.
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.
‘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
I did some of my A&P exam on a DC-3. I thought what a big plane. Later in life was line mechanic for a main line carrier. DC-3 a really small aircraft by those standards.
PBA used them in the keys in the 80s
My first multi-engine flight experience was as a passenger on a DC3. They took my boy scout troop for a short flight in the early sixties.
bkmk
One of the greatest planes ever built. And how many thousands were manufactured? I’m not surprised a number are still in service.
The Goony Bird!
I remember flying in one from Ft Lauderdale to Grand Bahama back in the 60’s. You really had to walk uphill to get to your seat. The pilot asked my dad how much he weighed, and then told him where to sit.
Way, way back before my time, my mom was a stewardess with Delta. She flew from Charleston, I am not sure to where. She would talk about the sailors in uniform traveling on her flights. She said there would be at least one on every flight who would start turning a little green, and suddenly yank his white cap down to catch the spewing chunder. Fun times!
Back in the 1960’s, our squadron CO loaded up the MAG-32 C-117 with anybody who wanted to go and flew us to a junior pilot’s wedding in Missouri.
The skipper was in the left seat, while some poor lieutenant ( I’ll call him Larry) occupied the co-pilots position. The rest of us were in the back playing cards. After about an hour, the CO came back and joined the game. Most of us were a little concerned, since we knew that the guy up front (Larry) was an F-4 pilot, but wasn’t checked out in the Gooney bird.
A few minutes later, Larry wandered to the back and asked the Skipper a question about the flight plan. Either the autopilot was operative ( a
rarity in those days), or Larry was really great at trim settings, since the flight deck was unoccupied!
There are still some flying in Alaska. DC-6 too. Had one go over my house about 10 days ago. Also C-46 are still flying up here.
Good chance that I flew on that Aircraft as a little kid. I know that I was on many of them back in the day.
FU- gettyimages you money grubbing pricks!!!
History (((PING)))
My time in one was a domestic flight in Honduras in the 1980s.
So long ago I’ll get many things wrong. 1968. High school senior. Won an essay contest sponsored by MN Dept Aviation(?) A couple dozen(?) students from around the state ferried to Mpls-St. Paul for a long weekend - we were supposedly chosen because of our potential for aviation careers (me = future aeronautical engineer - nope, went biomedicine /biophysics)
Picked up on ‘da Range at KEVM in a Beech Baron. Flown to MSP. Housed in college dormitories. Crash tours of schools, airports, control towers, RATC centers, maintenance facilities, etc. (got 2nd seat time in a B-58!)
Taken to St. Paul airport STP for an airborne lunch in N Central Airlines executive DC-3. Engine problem after takeoff so finished lunch at an angle in a hanger.
Loved these aircraft since then, especially the gunships. Probably as exciting - for my age - as eventually being type certified in my Cessns 340.
“Here’s looking at you, kid.”