An interesting little piece on the DC-3 from the BBC

[timmy]

Below is one paragraph from the short article with a number of pictures from the BBC about the DC-3:

I am lucky enough to have co-piloted a DC-3 in India. It was not, but could easily have been, one of the ‘Dakotas’ my father and his RAF colleagues protected in 1944, as each of these hugely capable aircraft dropped two tons of supplies and equipment for British and Commonwealth troops fighting the Battle of Kohima. This was a turning point in the War in the East, when the Japanese – attempting to invade India across the Naga Hills – were beaten to a standstill, and ignominious retreat.

You can find the whole article here: http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/201310 ... ying-at-70

[Safarigent]

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
Sat in the cockpit of a DC3 once. It has so much of character that one has to wxperience it to believe it

[nagarifle]

from time to time we are still finding em laying around in the jungles.
there was a story of spitfire ?being buried in burma while back i think they found some

[bennedose]

As a little boy I have flown in Indian Airlines Dakotas from Jamnagar to Mumbai and Mumbai to Bangalore via Belgaum. Can't forget them or the innocent old days when you could see off people at the steps leading into the aircraft. On the ground, with the nose up it was an effort to get out of a seat once you got in. and you had to climb uphill to get to your seat from the rear door which you entered via a few short steps. But the plane becane "normal" once it took off. I was a little kid and the pilot once put me in a seat in the cockpit and put headphones around my head. I heard music.

[timmy]

I wish I caould have a chance to fly in one of this. It would be a real piece of history, for sure. I very much appreciate large round motors!

[essdee1972]

Ah the Dakota! Or the C47 Skytrain as the USAAF called them. Who can forget the lines upon lines of them heading to Normandy in the dark of the night, to Arnhem for the ill-fated bridge, the British 1st and the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions who jumped from these planes - to never-ending glory?

The lifeline to Imphal / Kohima. Turning the tide for Nippon in that bitter no-quarters jungle battle.

The flights over the "hump". Effectively keeping Chiang in the war and huge Japanese armies tied up in China.

Thanks a lot, Timmy!!

[timmy]

essdee, a lot of the "Hump" flights were by C-46 Commandos. I once knew an old fellow back in the 80s who was a Commando pilot, making those flights.

The C-46 Commando was supposed to be Curtiss's answer/upgrade to the C-47/DC-3. It had some modern ideas that were used later and even into the jet age today: rather than using more engines (3 or 4), use two more powerful ones. This reduced maintenance and made a more efficient aircraft -- unless it was made by Curtiss.

The Curtiss C-46 reminds me of the British Sterling car: Sterling made a car using one of the most reliable auto engines available, the Acura V6, and turned the result into the most unreliable piece of junk on the highway.

Similarly, Curtiss took the Pratt & Whitney R2800, the most reliable big round motor ever built, and turned it into a failure-prone nightmare of an aircraft.

Pulling over the "Hump," an engine failure on a C-46 meant disaster, because at that altitude, the C-46 did not have single engine performance -- one engine failed, and the aircraft was going down.

The C-46 was a big two engined tail dragger and the pilot, on the runway, can look down from the towering height of his cockpit into planes like a Boeing 727! They are about double the size of a DC-3 and introduced the "double bubble" fuselage, copied on the Boeing 377 Stratoliner.

All fun stuff to read about now -- I just wish I could get the chance to fly in one! I guess I will have to go up to the Northwest Territories in Canada and catch a ride on Buffalo Airlines. The Weather Channel here in the USA used to have a reality show about flying those planes. They had DC-3s, one or two C-46s, and a Lockheed Orion turboprop. I loved watching it, just for seeing the aircraft!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_C-46_Commando

[essdee1972]

Thanks, Timmy, I always thought Dakotas did the Hump flights!!

I think there is somewhere in England where you can fly Spitfires and Hurricanes for a lark (and a decent fees). Let me try to find out more.

[essdee1972]

Few of them on a quick google search. Dunno how reliable. The second one is closer home to you (Denver) but it's 2.5 K USD!

http://www.goodwood.co.uk/experiences/e ... tfire.aspx

http://tigerairways.co.uk/spitfire-flights.html

http://flywithaspitfire.co.uk/ (here you are in a chopper and following a Spit)

http://www.classic-wings.co.uk/res_webs ... ode=CLA100 (this guy has some vintage aircraft, seem to be mostly WW1 biplanes, Tiger Moths & Rapides)

Of course, you would have to figure in the costs of a UK round trip!!!

[timmy]

Whew, that's a bit of change, isn't it? I can only imagine the cost of going through all those trainers. I wouldn't make the 192# limit to easily, either!