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General control line discussion => Open Forum => Topic started by: Tony Drago on June 06, 2020, 03:46:58 PM
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Did all DC-3s have the 14 cyl. twin row Or did some have the 9 cyl If not what. What were the other options.
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Turboprop -- how could you say no to a turboprop DC3?
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This article lists variants, with engines: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Douglas_DC-3_family_variants
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This article lists variants, with engines: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Douglas_DC-3_family_variants
Thank you.
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If you like watching videos, the son of the guy that owns Buffalo Air ( Mikey McBryan) has a You Tube channel called Plane Savers, and he has gone into some neat detail on owning and operating DC-3s and the turbine conversions. I just watched a clip last night about how the Goonie Bird is still in high demand, and that prices for them are escalating world wide. He even had a short video on experiments with using them as cargo and troop gliders with engines removed and all un-necessary weight removed. It did pretty well in tests but the war ended and all test planes were converted back to normal status.
Type at you later,
Dan McEntee
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I watched a movie a while back on Amazon Prime made in 1974 called Dakota. Had english subtitles. It was about a Dutch pilot who had a DC-3/Dakota who took on every job he could to make money to keep his beloved Dakota air airworthy. The story line was good so the subtitles weren't much of a bother. Actualy the DC-3 was the real star of the movie.
I will check out YouTube,Thanks
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Hi Tony,
Many early DC-3's had 9 cylinder Wright R-1820's. The DC-1, and the DC-2"s had them exlusively I believe. Later the P&W 14 cylinder R-1830 came along and was used more frequently in the military variants. i think that is how so many were available after the war and became airliners, freighters, etc. My dad flew a bunch of DC-3's at Southern Airways of Atlanta, Georgia... not the CIA... that had Wrights. He didn't like them as well as the Pratts because they reacted very badly as soon as a cylinder went bad creating pulses of incombustible gases into the other cylinders... 1830's seem to just start smoking and lose a little power so are useful for a little while so you can get out of a bad spot. I flew the P&W variants only.
Chris...
Did all DC-3s have the 14 cyl. twin row Or did some have the 9 cyl If not what. What were the other options.
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Thanks Chris
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I dunno why, but this is one of my fave DC3 configs... with skis! It is like the Shop Smith of the air. Oh, you want skis? Yeah, we have an attachment for that.
https://images.app.goo.gl/h2C4Kx8TSFSRTv4b6 (https://images.app.goo.gl/h2C4Kx8TSFSRTv4b6)
EricV
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Good looking plane. A few years back i was at Lake Havasu, AZ for the annual Regatta. We followed the lake to a river to where every one went to go and picnic. I wish i had a good camera. There tied up to someones dock was a DC-3 on floats.
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I believe that one has amphibious floats, Tony!
Chris...
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Chris correct. That is what i meant. It sure had that wow factor looking at it.
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I dunno why, but this is one of my fave DC3 configs... with skis! It is like the Shop Smith of the air. Oh, you want skis? Yeah, we have an attachment for that.
https://images.app.goo.gl/h2C4Kx8TSFSRTv4b6 (https://images.app.goo.gl/h2C4Kx8TSFSRTv4b6)
EricV
That is a Basler turbo conversions job.
faster, more load, quieter better.
https://www.baslerturbo.com/ (https://www.baslerturbo.com/)
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My (now deceased) father would always exclaim when we saw a DC-3/C-47, "That's one fine airplane. Made 23 takeoffs and zero landings in one."
He was 17th Airborne, 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment WWII
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This thread reminded me of an email from my cousin Dominic, we used to discuss airplanes a lot... he was a flight engineer on a C-54 most of his AF career.
This was from back in 2012 before he passed away and I had just sent him a pic of a DC-3 on ski's like the one I posted earlier in the thread. I just found it and thought it was worth sharing:
"Hi Cuz
That's pretty neat, the C-47 was a real work horse in the USAF and around the world for many years, they were still flying them in South America when I went down on company business.
After graduating from Aircraft & Engine Mechanic school at Shepard Air Force Base in Texas, my first assignment was Westover Air Force base in Springfield, Ma., a group of us flew up in a C-47.
I will always remember the refreshing smell of the Pine trees when they slid open the cabin door as we taxied in, all we smelled in Texas for months was oil coming from the many oil wells in close proximity to the base.
Although I had been to a half dozen aircraft and engine mechanic and flight engineering courses coupled with close to 3000 hrs of flight time in the USAF, it was still not enough to go to work for the commercial airlines so I was in hot pursuit of getting my Federal Airframe and Power Plant mechanic licenses and also wanted to get my commercial pilots license.
Well, as faith would have it, I managed to get both licenses but could not afford to continue on to the pilots course, by this time I was out of money and the first order of business was to get a job so that I could feed Claire and Dom Jr. :-) This is how I ended up in quality control at Sikorsky from where I had a great career and retired. It all worked out for the best.
The C-54 in which I accumulated close to 3000 flight hours was a essentially a 4 engine version of the the C-47, Douglas sure built some rugged and reliable aircraft.
Dom"
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Another little remembered part of the DC-3/C-47/R4D saga was South Pole expeditions. First flight believed to be OVER the Pole... maps and compasses weren't much use just there... Several annual 'Summer" trips to Antarctica, several Navy "DC-3s" abandoned down there, including I think the first one to do it - named "Que Sera Sera." (Whatever will be will be) a pop song that year. Appropriate. A few Navy planes were lost when their locations were either storm-destroyed, or had calved off into icebergs. (Somewhere, I have a book about this; fascinating!)
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My (now deceased) father would always exclaim when we saw a DC-3/C-47, "That's one fine airplane. Made 23 takeoffs and zero landings in one."
He was 17th Airborne, 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment WWII
Your Dad was a hero, Steve! His generation just stood up and did what needed to be done.
Dennis