And add ampfib floats and it’s a very unique floatplane.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ6zTZuq5zw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ6zTZuq5zw
Picture of the day
- Thread starter jwhc
- Start date
When all is said and done, make a wind vane of her. This aircraft in Whitehorse apparently spent military time in south East Asia before ending up with Canadian Pacific, they sure get around.
Grizz
Grizz
One of my favorite aircraft! Sleek and deadly.
Little publicized use of them by the CIA using ex Cuban pilots in the Congo in the 60's. A few photos I dredged up on the interenet of them, used in suppressing the Simba uprising, attempted Cuban assistance and then to put down later attempt by mercenaries to stage a coup.
You wouldn't know it, because when it's all quiet, they've either landed and shut down or crashed.
I was on one run by Varig Air in Brazil during the mid seventies when it ran into problems about ten kliks from the dirt/mud strip airport in the middle of the jungle.
That old bird wasn't quite as noisy as it was with running engines, those radials are not quiet, it vibrated, moaned, groaned, squealed and howled all the way along the glide path and the pilot, bless his black heart for being the cheap basterd he was and not loading up enough fuel for the trip, managed to set it down with a heavy loud bang, that sounded like the running gear had been torn off.
I was very surprised that old girl could glide that far, but we did have quite a bit of altitude soooo, we got lucky.
It turned out this was not the first time this particular pilot had scrimped on fuel. I took the river barge out, after that little escapade.
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Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Some info gleaned from the internet:
Glad she's still around, but with enough money I bet she'd go again...
I flew DC-3's for 10 years. They are just a mechanical marvel. There really aren't too many things built in the 1930's that are still in regular use today.
I saw one landing in Calgary just yesterday with the Basler turbine engine conversion. I flew that one too and it's just not the same. In fact, it was a real disappointment for me. Safer, yes. Faster, yes. Nostalgic and cool, kinda but not really.
My heart is with the original 14-cylinder Pratt engines, and even more so the 9-cylinder Wright's, even though they tried to kill me a few times.
I saw one landing in Calgary just yesterday with the Basler turbine engine conversion. I flew that one too and it's just not the same. In fact, it was a real disappointment for me. Safer, yes. Faster, yes. Nostalgic and cool, kinda but not really.
My heart is with the original 14-cylinder Pratt engines, and even more so the 9-cylinder Wright's, even though they tried to kill me a few times.
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Most military kit of the 1930's and 40's was built to last a short while and then be replaced by another one. It's astonishing any of it still exists, much less achieves flight.
The Douglas Commercial Three is a magnificent piece of design. Can't stress the airframe past its breaking point - the aircraft just won't do anything that can hurt itself, short of flying into clouds full of rocks. It's reasonably simple and easy on the eyes. Slow, loud, and magnificently elegant.
The Baslers are genius but yes, Propliner, I agree - they lose something in their modernity. Round engines forever.
NC30000, the prototype, in flight - 1936:
She ended up flying with the USAAF as 43-36600 (where they designated her a C-53 - no big cargo door, less reinforcement in the landing gear, and a weaker floor), survived the war, was sold back into civilian service, passed through a bunch of hands and finally was crashed hauling dope on 12 June 1977. A sad end for the old girl.
The last one left the factory in 1945. They've been dickin' around with the recipe ever since.
The Douglas Commercial Three is a magnificent piece of design. Can't stress the airframe past its breaking point - the aircraft just won't do anything that can hurt itself, short of flying into clouds full of rocks. It's reasonably simple and easy on the eyes. Slow, loud, and magnificently elegant.
The Baslers are genius but yes, Propliner, I agree - they lose something in their modernity. Round engines forever.
NC30000, the prototype, in flight - 1936:
She ended up flying with the USAAF as 43-36600 (where they designated her a C-53 - no big cargo door, less reinforcement in the landing gear, and a weaker floor), survived the war, was sold back into civilian service, passed through a bunch of hands and finally was crashed hauling dope on 12 June 1977. A sad end for the old girl.
The last one left the factory in 1945. They've been dickin' around with the recipe ever since.
DC-3s/C-47s were the sched. aircraft when I moved to the NWT in the 70s. Longest flight I took on one was Eskimo Point to Fort Smith return. Absolutely great view of the Barrens.
My son was on a DC-3 charter flight from Yellowknife to Whitehorse. Shortly after take-off, he noticed what appeared to be liquid streaming off the trailing edge. Got the crew's attention, they immediately returned to YK, refilled the tank and installed the cap this time.
My son was on a DC-3 charter flight from Yellowknife to Whitehorse. Shortly after take-off, he noticed what appeared to be liquid streaming off the trailing edge. Got the crew's attention, they immediately returned to YK, refilled the tank and installed the cap this time.
In 1976, during the Canadian Pilots strike, I caught a Harrison Airways DC-3 flight from Burns Lake to Cassidy Airport, Nanaimo. I then caught a bus from Nanaimo to get home to Victoria. That old DC-3 was a very humble passenger experience.
I was happy enough to have a route home, however.
I was happy enough to have a route home, however.
1st Airborne Task Force formation on their way to France.
I strongly suspect my fondness for the DC-3 stems from watching the old war movies from the late 40's through the 50's and 60's. Sneaking down to the basement with a bag of Hawkins to watch the old movies broadcast late night in the 70's and early 80's, the Dakotas were the ride of choice for dropping commandos to do commando things against the dirty Nazis. The first movie my dad ever rented for me to watch on our (we were THE ENVY OF THE BLOCK) pop-top Betamax was the Dirty Dozen.
Stirring stuff for an impressionable young lad.
I strongly suspect my fondness for the DC-3 stems from watching the old war movies from the late 40's through the 50's and 60's. Sneaking down to the basement with a bag of Hawkins to watch the old movies broadcast late night in the 70's and early 80's, the Dakotas were the ride of choice for dropping commandos to do commando things against the dirty Nazis. The first movie my dad ever rented for me to watch on our (we were THE ENVY OF THE BLOCK) pop-top Betamax was the Dirty Dozen.
Stirring stuff for an impressionable young lad.
Attachments
I flew, as a kid, on a RCAF DC3 (Dakota) from Ottawa to Vancouver, and back. Around 1950 or so. Over the Rockies I did not wear my oxygen mask and passed out.
Later, In Gander, I watched a parade of planes flying back and forth across the pond. Some DC3s and C-46s. At the time I thought the C46 was some kind of fat DC-3. Most planes were DC4s, DC6s and the Big DC7s and Super Connies.
In the evening you could hear them do the engine run ups and mag checks on all 4 engines before taking off. I could ID most planes at night by the exhaust gas patterns.
Later, In Gander, I watched a parade of planes flying back and forth across the pond. Some DC3s and C-46s. At the time I thought the C46 was some kind of fat DC-3. Most planes were DC4s, DC6s and the Big DC7s and Super Connies.
In the evening you could hear them do the engine run ups and mag checks on all 4 engines before taking off. I could ID most planes at night by the exhaust gas patterns.
Dark Alley Dan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Darkest Edmonton
Ah - you had to bring the Constellation into it, didn't you Ganderite? 
That, right there, is one of the three most beautiful objects ever created by the hand of man. No straight lines. All sinuous curves and forward motion. Jesus, what a thing.
### with wings. Add up every Hollywood actress of the 40's and 50's, multiply that by two and you come up with a similar level of "Goddamn"...
That, right there, is one of the three most beautiful objects ever created by the hand of man. No straight lines. All sinuous curves and forward motion. Jesus, what a thing.
### with wings. Add up every Hollywood actress of the 40's and 50's, multiply that by two and you come up with a similar level of "Goddamn"...
I hated cleaning the DC-3. We would fill 5-gallon buckets full of avgas from the belly sumps and brush the carbon off the belly and engines with it, liquid black sooty exhaust carbon mixed with fuel, oil and sand running down our arms and pouring off our elbows the whole time. We washed our flightsuits, gloves, hands, arms and boots regularly in avgas. We were dirty, greasy and black all the time. Up on the wing, pumping fuel into those big openings, I'd put my gloves into the stream of fuel to wash the oil off them. And gloves never lasted more than a couple weeks, not from oil or avgas but from wear.
Keeping the machines full of sticky W100 oil was a never-ending battle. On a road trip away from base we would load up at least 10 pails and two drums' worth, a drum stand, bung wrenches, rags and funnels to take with us, hoping it would last for a week or two. The Wright engines burned a lot of oil, well over a half gallon per hour each. We had to have a plane fly in extra oil drums at times. And you'd have to somehow keep all that oil warm or else it became totally useless. On a cold day you could pour a puddle of warm oil onto the ground and peel it up like a pancake. It was thicker than honey below 5c. It always needed special consideration.
I liked the hydraulic bay, the main tank was always a nice source of heat to warm our hands, and the navigator's seat there was a comfortable, if temporary, change of pace.
Seeing that formation, reminded me of my old skydiving buddy Peter Spencer. Pete was a commando and jumped into France during WWII. He stayed on with the Airborne for a time after the war and later setup the para division of the Alberta Forest Service in Edmonton. He was a colourful and great friend.
You mentioned “a bag of Hawkins”. The guy that invented them Jim Marker was an aviation nut supreme and a really low key and humble man. He built a runway on his farm property beside Belleville and opened it up to locals and the Air Cadet summer flying program all for free. Although he had a nice house in Belleville, many nights would be spent in the back room of the flying clubhouse he built on his farm property. A cot in the back room and a hot plate was all he needed to be totally comfortable. He passed away in 2012 and gave the airport to a friend of mine who kept his airplane there.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/05/03/cheezies_inventor_dies_in_belleville_ont_at_90.html
Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp = Bucket of Bolts...best the Yanks could do.
But they do sound awesome !!
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