What you Didn’t Know about the Amazing DC-3!

There's a saying that when the last 747 lands in the boneyard a DC3 will be there to pick up the crew.

I remember seeing a heavily corroded part of a wing spar that had been part of a Turkish military DC-3 that had arrived in the Netherlands in the 1950's and had not been allowed to depart for obvious reasons.

I have flown in some Frontier Airlines DC3s and DC3 conversions from USAAF C47s. The air conditioning was terrible but aside from that the planes were great planes that flew into smaller cities and even small towns on the round about milk runs that Frontier was famous for. If you dangled enough money in front or a Frontier ticket agent, Frontier would divert and drop you off anywhere a DC3 could land.

Ol K-nute Rockney 😂

We still have it flying here in the netherlands, by the DDA (Dutch Dakota Association) where u could buy a ticket for a flight with it above the netherlands, the dc3 they have was a former government plane wich was active on dday 1944 in ww2 , was out of service but is completely restaurated and imo is one of the most beautiful dc3 i know of that still flies today ! ❤ PH-PBA

❤ The airplane DC 1>2>3 as indenspencable. And great point about the Magnetos...

The only replacement for a DC 3 is another DC 3.

South African Air-force has been flying the DC3-C47 since 1943. Affectionately known as the Dakota 👍

Taking trips across the Amazon on a daily such a hearty plain

I 'endured' a 4 hour flight in a DC3 in 1984 during military service in Africa.
Not pressurised, not heated.. fantastic, happy days!!! 🤩

Great video, thanks. Speaking of the magneto switches on this beautifull DC-3, situated above the windshield... I Am wondering, why most of the seaplanes/hydroplanes have the throttle mounted up on the roof panel and not on the central pedestal like most other planes?

My first ever flight was on a RCAF DC-3 (not sure of their designation) out of CYCD Nanaimo as an air cadet.
No seats. Fold down benches and a full canopy of camouflage netting!
As a 13 yr old I was scared sh..less! I just couldn’t understand why it wasn’t level with the taxiway and the tendency to roll down the floor was worse than the worst nightmare!
We lined up and started the takeoff roll and I was right on the verge of woofing my cookies when the tail started flying. “Huh?” I never expected this! Then without any noticeable pitch…WE’RE FLYING!
OMG! INSTANTLY in love! We went off on close to a two hour flight where each and every one of us got the opportunity to sit in the co-pilot’s seat and even hold the control yoke to ‘feel’ the heartbeat of this beautiful plane! NOTHING will ever match that glorious feeling🥰💕💕💕👨🏼‍🦳🇨🇦

Wonderful and comprehensive review of the history of the venerable DC-3.Thanks.

First model airplane I ever built, and it almost looked like a DC3… if you squinted.

It is not "kuhnute". it is pronounced "NOOT"

Thanks for sharing. In the mid-1940s I was a young child living with my mother on the west coast while my dad served in the Navy. I boarded a Douglas DC-3 with my mother and flew to the East Coast to meet up with my dad. The DC-3 was a wonderful aircraft that I would get more exposure to years later.
In 1965 my ship patrolled the coast of South VietNam from the DMZ, south along the east coast of the country, then around the horn into the Gulf of Thailand and north to Phu Quoc Island south of Cambodia.
During our patrols we communicated with friendly aircraft, many of which we directed to intercept suspicious vessels. On one such occasion, we worked with a C-47 modified as a gunship. That C-47 laid automatic gunfire on VC who were attacking friendly forces near the south coast of Vietnam.
It did its job well.

I'd love to take a DC-6, give it Turbo Prop engines and modern avionics and i'[d have my private plane

My first flight was on a DC3, and I was totally memerized!

My first flight, as a passenger, occurred in early 1961 in a LAN (now LATAM) DC-3, from Santiago to Concepción, Chile. Departure from Aeropuerto Los Cerrillos (ULC; SCTI), then Santiago’s primary airport, was normal, as was the flight. Arrival at Aeródromo Hualpencillo was unexpectedly different. The landing strip was not paved and was occupied by grazing cows. We performed a low flyover, which chased them off, then went around to land. I didn’t fly again until 1971, in a 707.

DC 3’s are still working hard in Alaska. Up until the late 90’ Air North was still running passenger flights in their DC’3 across the Yukon and to Alaska.

The DC-3 has out-lived Hughs Airwest, Frontier Airlines, TWA, and quite possibly Boeing as of this writing. Yikes.

Down here at Haynnis on the Cape (2B1) there are 2 DC 3s that still operate from the field. I was totally blown away the first time i saw one

Mark Felton has a video about DC-3s that are still in military service today, now using turboprop engines. Yeah, STILL in active military service in 2024.

Sorry about the typos. Where it says rigged, it should have read rugged, and that number written in blue, i am not sure where that came from, and finally, reflect should gave eead recollect as in remember.

DC-3 is one of my favorite planes to fly. I flew one once in Africa on an animal rescue mission. There was a sick Rhino that needed to be life flighted. Summabitchin thing woke up because it wasn't tranquilized enough and the plane started swaying. I didn't think we were going to make it but we did. Man what a blast!

First ever plane I flew on was a DC3 Dakota in 1980s at an airshow in the UK. They were doing 30 minute pleasure rides. my Grandad was in the RAF in WWll working on them and he wanted to take me on one. What a ride it was, never forget it. In 2018 when my daughter was born i named her Dakota after a picture of my grandad standing by one in the war. Last week we took her to a air museum where she seen the plane for the first time

The company my father used to work for in Sudán, África had one of these built in 1943, flew on it from 1979 to 1982, great plane.

I'm very late to the party, but I flew DC-3's in Alaska during the 1980's. Started by flying Sockeye Salmon from Bristol Bay to Anchorage, Kenai, Homer, and Seward for the fresh market. Later hauling cargo to villages for a 135 operator, and a couple of years moving telephone construction equipment and supplies all over Alaska to put systems in small villages. The shortest runway I used was 1,650 ft. long, and the shortest fully loaded takeoff was from a 2,300 ft. runway. Shismaref only had 2 ft. of runway on each side of the main gear tires.

The plane I flew most was later converted by Basler and last I heard was based in Bremen, Germany doing support for Arctic research. It will be flying past it's 100th birthday! Another had 69,000 hours on it when I flew it.

One night we were stranded when the starter failed on the left engine. I told my copilot that I would start it by pulling on the prop. He replied "if you start that engine by propping it, I'll wear a dress and whistle Dixie!" I indeed get it started on the first pull, (it was still warm) and the story of how he ended up paying the bet is even more interesting!

The dc3 is my favorite aircraft of all time, simply a beautiful machine

Hey numb nuts , why don't you make a one hour video !!!!

I think the DC-3 is a gorgeous aircraft. Maybe the most beautiful.

I was fortunate to fly the DC-3. The people I flew for had purchased a C-47 from the government after the war and had it converted radically. It had single fuel tanks in each wing which held 850 gallons each. Also had JATO bottles installed in the belly for extra thrust if power was lost on one engine during takeoff. Had all the radios moved from the racks behind the cockpit to between the wing spars in the belly. Seated 18 with club seating and couches with full bar. Beautiful plane and fun to fly. I later got to fly all the different models of the 737's. Great career. You mentioned C.R. Smith from American Airlines. I had him aboard several times going to a ranch in Mexico.

Ahhh, the good old DC-3! My first airplane flight was in DC-3 in 1960 as an elementary school field trip. This was a military aircraft with mesh benches along the sides lengthwise.

It was a letter from then president of T&WA, Jack Frye to Donald Douglas that started the DC-1/DC-2 evolution. Without this letter, perhaps infamous success of the DC-3 would have never come to fruition.

If I had a million dollars i wouldn’t buy a Lear jet

Id buy a DC3 and put a kitchen bed and all the comforts of home in it

Then I’d fly it out to a remote airfield and go camping out in the plane

ADMIT IT that’d be SO MUCH COOLER than a Lear Jet

I have always thought that this tail dragger was one of the most beautifully designed airplanes ever.

Thank you for this informative and interesting video. And I came across him after I heard a fairly low plane flying over here above my hometown, which was not really quiet. And since I have my own SkyAware working, I could clearly see on my screen that it was a DC3, but I did not write down the number, it started with PHP and it is a device registered in the Netherlands.☺

Always thought it was a mistake to stop making the DC-5 & concentrate on the DC-3 with the start of the war for the US, IMAO it would’ve been better the other way around

it's a beautiful bird, efficient and low cost, reliable. I salute the pilots who flew this type of aircraft. no radar and modern avionics it takes a skill to fly these. My grandpa flew this at 500kt-600kt cruising speed at engine power 75%..

In mid 1960s, my first flight as a pre-teen kid was in the DC3s of Air Ceylon, then the island of Ceylon now Sri Lanka. Because we lived close to the airport in Colombo, we got so used to their characteristic engine sound, which even today I can recognize anywhere in the world. Amazing aircraft.

I jumped a DC3 while in the Army, wonderful aircraft. DOD use this a/c throughout south america. I saw this a/c throughout my 26 years in the Army I ret. 2001.

I've been in a few of these aircraft but never flown in one. There used to be one at the local McDonald's where kids parties would be held. So I've eaten a Big Mac in the fuselage of a DC-3. I also got to ride a C-47 simulator in Normandy and have poked my head inside a few museum specimens.

A cool detail about the magneto switches and probably many other parts of this plane is they were produced by Square D. They make electrical products for residential, commercial and industrial applications. They made many airplane fuses, lights, and switches. I'm an electrician so I was able to catch the logo on the magneto switches.

The DC3 was an icon, and still is with many still in service. It encapsulates that golden age, of course, with it's almost art deco styling, it is everything a propellor plane should be. And ideal for adventure movies of course.
I always fabtasized about obtaining a DC-3 fuselage for a home!

Weren't the military versions called Dakotas?

Thanks for sharing

I love DC3's because of its sheer nostalgic values and yet it still flies . I have a dream of buying a BASLER TURBINE DC3 .Is the BASLER DC3 fit for crossing the Atlantic and fly from continent to continent ?

You must do an exhaustive video on Basler converted turboprop fitted DC 3.and I eagerly look forward to this please.