200512-1937 Douglas DC-3 Series

decade of flying naval squadrons hither and yon, in 1956 the airplane came to its current owner. then the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA)-now the FAA. That makes N34 one of the few in the DC-3 brood that has flown for the same owner for almost 50 years and more than 24.000 hours. The CAA/FAA operated more than 60 DC-3s in flight inspection, making it one of the largest civil operators of the type. Today N34 tours the country as part of the FAA's Of- fice of Aviation Systems Standards. AVN. In 1985. then- FAA Administrator Donald Engen determined the airplane could reach out to the pUblic about an important part of the FAA's mission. In 1993, N34 was returned to storage, but was later brought out again by Adminis- trator Marion Blakey for the Centennial of Flight. Out- fitted with its original airway- and navaid-inspection equipment, today N34 continues to visit aviation events to tell the story of what pilots know through the call sign "Flight Check"-the airspace system inspection process that helps keep our airways the safest in the world. AVN- 200 (Flight Inspections Division) operates the aircraft for AVN, and AVN Program Director Tom Accardi oversees the program. a personal favorite of his. Robert Tahte Perkins, pilot for the Anchorage Flight In- spection Office, currently is one of four captains for N34 and serves as its program manager. He enjoys showing visitors (short and tall alike) the radio racks and techni- cian's workbench used to test early VOR and ILS installa- tions. He's also witnessed history brought to life, in the stream of veterans who come on board to talk about their relationship with the airplane, and in one special memory: Last summer he flew the airplane to Alaska, and escorted to the cockpit the widow of Jack Jeffords, who led the CAA in Alaska during its frontier days. While she knew she wasn't in the DC-3 that her husband flew (N14, King Chris), Ruth Jeffords' eyes filled with tears as she sur- veyed the front office of an airplane that remains so much the same-and still serves a similar mission. -JKB N34 is shown in its current colors. Duggy the DC-3 The National Aviation Hall of Fame reaches out to kids A few modern avionics have updated the front office of N143D- the ADF receiver was swapped for a Garmin GNS 430. While this airplane is now configured for cargo operations, in its passenger-carrying days it would have resembled the DC-3 interior in the photo below. "I think Donald Douglas would be flabbergasted to see not only the aircraft still flying but to see a big smiley face on it," says Ron Kaplan, executive director of the National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF). Kaplan is refer- ring to Duggy, a 1942 C-47/DC-3 that originally served in the Pacific Wing during World War II, flew for Wein Air Service in Alaska after the war, and finished its working role in government service flying for the Cana- dian Department of Transportation through the 1970s. Now N1XP wears bright yellow paint and is charged with putting a friendly face on aviation for the children who see it at airshows and fly-ins across the country. Duggy is part of the SkyReach project of the NAHF, which is based in Dayton. Sky Reach represents a mar- riage between the Duggy cartoon character created by Mitch Carley, Rob Challans of Aviset Studio, the NAHF, and N1XP-whose services are donated to the museum by Robert Odegaard Aviation. NAHF promotes the people of aviation, as opposed to historic events-and the Duggy AOPA PILOT· 84· DECEMBER 2005 the responsiveness of a freighter. The airplane is a thinking pilot's airplane: You think about making a turn, and a few sec- onds later, the airplane thinks about making the turn as well. Pitch forces are light-once you establish a turn, the back- pressure required to maintain altitude doesn't require extraor- dinary effort, though you learn quickly to use the effective trim (in all axes) to manage the load. DC stands for "Douglas Com- mercial," but to the DC-3 pilot it means "direct cable." Those aileron cables in particular are mighty long to reach its 24-foot ailerons on a 95-foot wingspan. While setting up a turn takes forethought, once the DC-3 settles in and hunkers down, it feels like it's carving through the turn on rails. This stability makes for a pleasurable ride, and also translates to other fundamentals of flight. For exam- ple, we configured the airplane for instrument approaches (both precision and non precision) by setting one-quarter flaps, then one-half flaps and gear down prior to reaching the outer marker or final approach fix. At the fix inbound, full flaps (45 degrees of split flap across roughly 45 percent of the wingspan) resulted in a 90-knot approach speed and roughly 500 fpm descent. Once it's configured, the DC-3 tracks the program plays right into that mis- sion. Carley imagined the Duggy character when he was a child, and now the airplane headlines the educational program de- signed to teach kids in grades kindergarten through four about the valued character traits of NAHF enshrinees. Take, for example, enshrinee Donald Douglas him- self. Vaunted by the NAHF for his character trait of "teamwork," Douglas threw his resources (the Dou- glas engineers and factory craftsmen) together with those of the airline industry to make a world-changing airplane. And 70 years later, Duggy flies the skies to serve as an example of Douglas' teamwork ethic and spirit of cooperation, as well as the values of those other enshrinees we honor for doing the right thing- and furthering aviation in the process. -JKB course like a knife through butter, smooth and true. I'll take an instrument checkride in a DC-3 any day. Single-engine work was another line item that sounded daunting, but the airplane proved it was a surmountable challenge. Ruby Sheldon, former pilot for the U.S. Geological Survey, recalls from her type-rating ride in the DC-3 back in the 1960s: "I just put both feet on that rudder and stomped for all I was worth!" My legs had strength enough to handle it just fine. Although the airplane accepts a three-point landing, normally saved for light loads and deft hands at the con- trols, wheel landings are the norm, being both satisfying and consistent. When Gryder started us in on touch and goes, it seemed like a big deal until I realized that the real trick to landing happens as you fly the tail to the ground-repeated wheel landings that keep the tail in the air give you time to hone your direction- al skill prior to the more challenging task of bringing the airplane to a stop. The full stop On our third day of training-mornings of ground school on systems punctuat- ed by afternoons flying and swapping seats-we did touch and goes with suc- cessive VI cuts, and then a round of landings at Thomaston. The runway there, longer than that of the airplane's home base, made for better training circumstances. '"'~, Atte.rbury wa.s slow- .. -, lI1g the airplane for a full-stop landing when he felt 1430 pull sharply to the right. As the aircraft slowed, Gryder took the con- trols, and the right-rear drag strut punched up through the wing, collaps- ing the right main gear. The prop, en- gine at idle, struck the pavement seven times, and sparks flew from the oil cooler as we slid to a stop and pitched over in slow motion. Inside a wing rib, the attach point of the drag strut had failed, the casualty of more than 40,000 landings. As we considered the airplane, lame on the runway, in disbelief, the genius of the design flickered through the fog of massive disappointment. The gear de- sign and placement of the fuel tanks en- sured that a failure wouldn't likely breach those tanks or lines. Though the massive C-47 gear folded in half (the air- plane had been modified for cargo oper- ations with the stronger gear), it re- mained intact to pad the wing and belly from further damage. The right wingtip was dented, but only because in our mis- fortune we'd topped a runway light a few yards back. And, incredibly, the implod- ing gear had destroyed a section of the main spar web-but not the attach angle, or spar cap, that carried through the aircraft's midsection. It had missed by a sixteenth of an inch on the top, and less than that on the bottom. That stroke of luck made the airplane fixable, from a financial standpoint. AOPA PILOT· 85· DECEMHEH 2005 SPECSHEET Douglas DC-3 Current market value: $220,000 (varies widely on condition) Price as new in 1937: about $110,000 Specifications Powerplants Two Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 radial engines, 14 cyl, super- charged ............................ 1,200 hp at 2.700 rpm ............................ 1.050 hp at 2,550 rpm Recommended TBO 1,300 hr Propellers Hamilton Standard Hydromatic ..................... full feathering,11-ft-7-in dia, ....................................... constant speed Length 64 ft 5 in Height 16 ft 11.5 in (tail down); ........................... 14 ft 11 in (tail height); ...... 23 ft 6 in (tail up; wheel-landing profile) Wingspan 95 ft Wing area 987 sq ft Wing loading 25.5 Ib/sq ft Power loading 12.9 Ib/hp Seats 2+1 (cargo configuration) ................ 2+21 (passenger configuration) Basic empty weight (plus oil and std equipment) 17 ,345 Ib Max gross weight (FAR Part 91 ops) . .................................................. 25,200 Ib Max gross weight (FAR parts 121,135 ops). ................................................. 26,900 Ib Max useful load 7,855 Ib Payload w/full fuel 2,923 Ib Fuel capacity, std ..822 gal (802 gal usable) 4,932 Ib (4,812 Ib usable) Oil system capacity, both engines 59 gal Baggage capacity (max all compartments) .. ................................ 9,520 Ib; 1,300 cu ft Performance Takeoff distance, ground roll, 1,200 hp ea side 890 ft Takeoff distance, ground roll, 1,050 hp ea side 1,070 ft Max demonstrated crosswind component. .... .......................................................13 kt Rate of climb, sea level, 1,200 hp ea side 1,410 fpm Cruise speed/range w/45-min rsv (total fuel consumption), 10.000 ft @ 65% power, auto lean mixture . ................................ 142 kt/l.l07 nm (93.8 gph) Cruise speed/ endurance w / 45-min rsv (total fuel consumption) @ max endurance speed, auto lean mixture 85 kt/16 hr (49 gph) Service ceiling 26,500 ft Absolute ceiling 24,800 ft Absolute ceiling, single engine 12,500 ft Landing distance over 5o-ft obstacle .. 2,100 ft Landing distance, ground roll 800 ft Limiting and Recommended Airspeeds Vx (best angle of climb) 84 KIAS Vy (best rate of climb) 91 KIAS VXSE (best angle of climb, single engine) . .................................................. .84 KI A S VYSE (best rate of climb, single engine) . ................................................... 95 KIAS VMC (minimum controllable airspeed, single engine) 76 KIAS VA (design maneuvering) 120 KIAS VLE (max landing gear extended) 148 KIAS VFE (max flap extended, one-quarter flaps) ... ................................................. 135 KIAS VNO (max structural cruising) 158 KIAS VNE (never exceed) 190 KIAS V 1 (takeoff decision speed) 84 KIAS VR (rotation) 84 KIAS V2 (takeoff safety speed) 84 KIAS VS1 (stall, clean) 68 KIAS Vso (stall, in landing configuration) .. 64 KIAS All speCifications are based on manufactur- er's and airlines' calculations for the specif- ic aircraft tested. All performance figures are based on standard day, standard atmos- phere. sea level, gross weight conditions unless otherwise noted. How does an airplane stay in service for 70 years? For one, more than 10,000 DC-3s and C-47s (the military version) and their variants were built. And because the bulk of those were C-47s destined for war (the airplane was credited as one of four reasons the Allies were victorious in World War n, along with the jeep, the bazooka, and the atom bomb, an assertion attributed to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower)-the U.S. government requisitioned a mon- umental stockpile of parts. To this day, new primer-green parts with original Douglas stickers intact can be pur- chased or scavenged from attics and dusty hangars for much of the airplane. And what you can't buy ready-made, you can probably fabricate legally. The DC-3 will fly past its 100th birthday on this happy circumstance-even if its only original part is the data plate . But to rebuild the airplane after a seri- ous mishap, you need jigs and tools spe- cially designed for the old lady. For exam- ple, the wings are reinforced with a layer of corrugated 62-one-thousandths-inch- thick sheet metal, which is topped by the smooth aluminum skin. To achieve the proper corrugation pattern, the two lay- ers must be riveted together under com- pression. A tool was built to compress the section as part of the restoration. For the aircraft's major structural re- pair signoff and return to service, Gryder documented the process with digital photos and notes that could make an ex- cellent primer in sheet-metal work for budding airframe and powerplant me- chanics. As they assembled the parts for the project, Gryder marveled repeatedly at bow,well the stn:lctur.al oarts of the its ramp, watched as the majestic silver airplane came back to life. A zero-time engine was hung on the right side-Pratt & Whitney doesn't build 1830s anymore; this one was re- built from new and serviceable parts by Roy Owens and his crew at Global Radi- al Aircraft Engines in Oklahoma City- and we were back in business. ~ L i5te n i ng ~.;:nnlve'sary for the stories The legendary Douglas DC-3 is still making people talk BY MICHAEL MAYA CHARLES E-mail the author at julie.boatman@ aopa.org. i Links to _.~ additional information about the Douglas DC-3 may be found on AOPA Online (www.aopa.orgj pilotjlinks.shtml). Team effort Atterbury and I returned to Georgia in September to complete our type ratings and finish the photos for these pages. One night, while standing on the ramp after a long day offlying, Thomaston Air- port Manager Mitch Ellerbee reminisced about the airplane's working days: "Years ago I used to watch guys dressed in dark clothes-to hide the oil-load newspa- per bundles into the back of this same airplane every night. Now she's all pret- tied up like a baby dol!." Flying the airplane after a hiatus (and major repair work) filled me with excite- ment and, yes, anxiety. But after making peace again with taxiing-and making some more full-stop landings-I made friends with the airplane I so admired and trusted that the type rating was an attainable goal. And so it was. Later, we launched into the end-of- summer haze for a photo formation flight. Loafing behind a Piper Super Cub at 90 knots, I worked pitch and rudder to stay in position while Gryder gave me what power adjustments he could-al- ready at 20 inches manifold pressure and 2,050 rpm, we didn't have much to play with on the low end, but working together we stayed in position long enough to cap- ture the lady in the fading Georgia evening. We dropped the gear for our final breakaway into the sunset (hydraulic gear lever down then neutral, handle latched, pressure up on the downlock side, and a green light), and I slid open the pilot window farther to let my elbow trail in the breeze. And I wondered again at how the best of air- craft designs seems destined to soldier on, flying on the strength of teamwork. ~ A few years ago, I was fortunate to fly a Douglas DC-3 located in the Denver area. The private owners were quite generous with their treasure and one day allowed me to participate in an EAA Young Eagles event at the local airport. We flew four loads of 10 Young Ea- gles each; an adult rode in the back of the airplane and another in the front- just in case we needed to get everybody out in a hurry. It was a beautiful day for an airplane ride, the first for many of my young fares. Before each takeoff, I'd turn around toward the rear of the cabin and ask, "Everybody ready?" Wide eyes and excitement you could feel in your hair. Each flight was but 10 to 15 minutes, but the memories will surely last a life- time. There was much pointing and shouting as excited kids spotted their homes or schoo!. We ended each flight with a gentle wheel landing, letting the old Doug roll to the end of the 4,700- foot-long runway in deference to her tender brakes. This American Airlines Flagship was one of a Douglas fleet that helped bring the airline to profitability in the late 1930s. After the Pratt & Whitney 1830s clat- tered to a stop, some of the kids just walked down the stairs and ran to their parents' side or looked around for the "next ride," never even glancing back toward the airplane or saying thanks to its crew, clueless about the amazing thing that had just happened to them. But a few, a precious few, didn't want the moment to end. They lingered, studying the upturned nose, graceful lines, and old-world details ofthe near- ly 70-year-old airliner. One young lad and his father begged a ride back to the airplane's home airport, in spite of the inconvenience arranging transporta- tion back home at the other end. That's why we flew those flights: The DC-3 is an amazing bridge between past and future. Someday 15 or 20 years from now, I'm going to be sitting in a bar some-"' where, and between sips of my porter i Your DC-3 stories may be sent to editor@aopa.org with "DC-3" in the sUbject line to post in our special section -~ (www.aopa.orgjmembersj aircraftreportsj dc3). AOPA PILOT' 87 •DECEMBER 2005 I'll hear a mid-20s lad brag, "Well, my first airplane ride was in a DC-3." "What's a DC-3?" the neighboring barfly will ask natly, not really caring about much beyond the label of his Budweiser. "It's just one of the coolest airplanes ever built: A big taildragger, radial en- gines that smoked and belched fire ... an art-deco look and feel...it's about the size of one of the engines on modern widebody jets and cruised at about the approach speed of modern airliners. But it would seat 15 to 20 passengers, and in the 1940s and 1950s, it was the bee's knees to airline passengers." "Oh." What that lad will be unable to con- vey to his unappreciative audience is the essence of the DC-3, the reason we keep writing stories about this great aging airliner: There is something spe- cial about the DC-3, something magic that just doesn't exist in the modern jet- liners that we now fly. That magic is a sense of history. Old airplanes have soft voices, stories to tell, and the last DC-3 story has yet to be told. Gen. Hap's bird The story of the DC-3 I flew is certainly unique. It was the second military DC-3, delivered to the U.S. Army Air Corps in September 1939. Configured as a VIP transport with four sleeping berths for- ward and four swivel armchairs and gal- ley aft, the Douglas was based at Bolling Field in Washington, D.C., during the war. It was one of two similarly config- ured DC-3s, and served as Gen. Hap Arnold's and other top-level staffers' cor- porate steed. During its time in the ser- vice it was painted with Arnold's "flag" and two stars just to the right of the en- trance door. Can you imagine the dis- cussions that took place in the back of that airplane during those years? The stories that airplane could tell! But this airplane is certainly not the only one with tales to tell. When we flew the airplane to fly-ins, there were always people there to tell us of their connection to the DC-3, their stories: There were some who jumped out of DC-3s for fun or duty, flew home from battle in them, took their first airplane ride in one, watched them fly over as a kid from the seat of a farm tractor, met their wife when she was a stewardess on one, rode to school on one, got mar- ried in a DC-3, flew them for an airline, the Army, or a corporation .... These amazing airplanes have volumes of AOPA PILOT· 88· DECEMBER 2005 stories like this, all personal and many heartrending. These old airplanes, one story at a time, built a solid record that will never be equaled. The foundation for all airliners The DC-3 is one of the foundation blocks of all airliners that followed. In the DC-3's systems, you can see the be- ginnings of modern-day jets. Hy- draulics, for example, were used to per- form many jobs in the DC-3, including raising and lowering the landing gear, and operating the brakes, flaps, cowl nap, and even the windshield wipers. When I checked out in the DC-IO a year or two after getting my DC-3 type rating, I had to smile when I learned that the model-like its newer brother, the MD-ll jet-has a feature in the hy- draulic system to prevent pilots from "overspeeding" the flaps. I recalled that a similar feature was originally built for the DC-3, a simple relief valve that pre- vents you from lowering the flaps be- yond one-quarter extension at speeds over 135 knots. I also noticed a family resemblance in the upright, prow- shape windscreen in the DC-lOt MD-ll series, the very last of the dis- tinguished Douglas line. We no longer have free-swiveling tail- wheels, or have hydraulic cowl flaps, or worry about dreaded hydraulic lock in our modern jetliners. But that's largely because the DC-3 showed us how to create the reliable systems that we now take for granted. /alA Michael Maya Charles, of Erie, Col- orado, is a captain for a commercial airline.