Douglas DC-3 | ||
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A Douglas DC-3 | ||
Description | ||
Role | Passenger & military transport | |
Crew | 3 | |
Passengers | 14 sleeper, 21 - 28 day | |
First flight | 17 December 1935 | |
Entered service | June 1936 | |
Manufacturer | Douglas Aircraft | |
Produced | 455 commercial DC-3s, 10,174 military C-47s | |
Dimensions | ||
Length | 64 ft 5.5 in | 19.7 m |
Wingspan | 95 ft 0 in | 29 m |
Height | 16 ft 3.6 in | 4.9 m |
Wing area | 987 sq ft | 91.7 sq m |
Weights | ||
Empty | 16,865 lb | 7,650 kg |
Loaded | ||
Maximum takeoff | ||
Powerplant | ||
Engine | 2 × Wright Cyclone | |
Power (each) | 1,200 hp | 1,216.64 hp |
Performance | ||
Maximum speed | 192 mph | 308.9 k/hr |
Cruising speed | ||
Range | 1,495 miles | 2,405.9 kilometers |
Ceiling | 20,800 ft | 6,339.8 m |
Rate of climb | 1,130 ft/min | 5.7 m/s |
The Douglas DC-3 'Dakota' is a small piston engine airliner developed by Douglas Aircraft during the 1930s. Many of the previously existing military C-47 Skytrains have been refitted as DC-3s, leading to the type's global popularity.
Description[]
Among the first commercially successful airliners, the Douglas DC-3 has seen one of the longest commercial runs of any aircraft, many examples still remaining in airline service to this day. It was produced in large numbers both as a commercial transport, and as a military transport/cargo aircraft, the C-47 Skytrain. In military service with the British and the Commonwealth, it was known as the Dakota. Even today, after 75 more than years, this aircraft remains airworthy as the original aircraft or as a Turboprop-converted version named Basler BT-67. Buffalo Airways maintains a small fleet of DC-3s in the present day among other historical types for charter and cargo operations, one of the few remaining airlines with the original type in service.
The DC-3 popularized air travel in the United States. Previously, transcontinental trips entailed short hops in slower, shorter-range aircraft travel during the day combined with train travel overnight. However, in the DC-3, transcontinental flights could cross the U.S. in 15-17.5 hours.
The DC-3 is a twin-engine monoplane with a tailwheel-type landing gear. Its cruise speed is 207 mph (333 km/h), its range is 1,500 mi (2,400 km), and it can carry 21 to 32 passengers or up to 6,000 lbs (2,700 kg) of cargo.
Production[]
16,079 DC-3s were produced, and more than 400 remained in commercial service in 1998. Production was as follows:
- 607 civil variants
- 10,048 military C-47 and C-53 derivatives
- 4,937 built under license in the Soviet Union as the Lisunov Li-2
- 487 Mitsubishi Kinsei-engined aircraft built by Showa and Nakajima in Japan as the L2D Type 0 transport
Specifications (DC-3A)[]
Data from McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920.
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Capacity: 21–32 passengers
- Length: 64 ft 8 in (19.7 m)
- Wingspan: 95 ft 2 in (29.0 m)
- Height: 16 ft 11 in (5.16 m)
- Wing area: 987 sq ft (91.7 m2)
- Empty weight: 16,865 lb (7,650 kg)
- Gross weight: 25,199 lb (11,430 kg)
- Powerplant: 2 × Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engine, 1,100 hp (820 kW) each
- Powerplant: 2 x Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S1C3G Twin Wasp 14-cyl. air-cooled two row radial piston engine, 1,200 hp (890 kW) each
- Propellers: 3-bladed series
Performance
- Maximum speed: 200 kn; 370 km/h (230 mph) at 8,500 ft (2,590 m)
- Cruise speed: 180 kn; 333 km/h (207 mph)
- Service ceiling: 23,200 ft (7,100 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,130 ft/min (5.7 m/s)
- Wing loading: 25.5 lb/sq ft (125 kg/m²)
- Power/Mass: 0.0952 hp/lb (156.5 W/kg)
Notable accidents[]
There have been many accidents and incidents involving the DC-3, particularly during its early years of service. The following is an incomplete list of notable accidents.
Event | Date | Fatalities/number on board | Cause |
---|---|---|---|
Lovettsville air disaster | August 31. 1940 | 25/25 | Lightning strike |
Eastern Air Lines Flight 21 | February 26, 1941 | 8/16 | Controlled flight into terrain |
Northwest Airlines Flight 5 (1941) | October 30, 1941 | 14/15 | Icing conditions |
American Airlines Flight 1 (1941) | October 30, 1941 | 20/20 | Unknown |
TWA Flight 3 | January 16, 1942 | 22/22 | Controlled flight into terrain |
American Airlines Flight 28 | October 23, 1941 | 12/12 (0/2 on second aircraft) | Mid-air collision with USAAF Lockheed B-34 bomber |
BOAC Flight 77 | June 1, 1943 | 17/17 | Shot down by German fighter planes |
American Airlines Flight 63 (Flagship Ohio) | July 28, 1943 | 20/22 | Loss of control due to severe turbulence and violent downdrafts |
American Airlines Flight 63 (Flagship Missouri) | October 15, 1943 | 11/11 | Controlled flight into terrain due to icing |
Pennsylvania Central Airlines Flight 105 | January 6, 1946 | 3/19 | Aircraft collided with terrain |
1946 Australian National Airways DC-3 crash | March 10, 1946 | 25/25 | Aircraft crashed into sea |
British European AIrways Flight 530 | August 7, 1946 | 3/15 | Controlled flight into terrain |
1946 C-53 Skytrooper crash on the Gauli Glacier | November 18, 1946 | 0/12 | Weather related controlled flight into terrain |
1947 BOAC Douglas C-47 crash | January 11, 1947 | 8/16 | Multiple causes including weather, shortfall in airfield radio capacity, crew route inexperience, crew rostering oversight, and pilot error |
Eastern Air Lines Flight 665 | January 12, 1947 | 18/19 | Controlled flight into terrain |
1947 Croydon Dakota accident | January 25, 1947 | 12/23 | Loss of control |
1947 Héðinsfjörður air crash | May 29, 1947 | 25/25 | Controlled flight into terrain |
1947 Korangi Creek crash | December 27, 1947 | 23/23 | Loss of control due to low visibility and instrument malfunctions |
1948 Australian National Airways DC-3 crash | September 2, 1948 | 13/13 | Controlled flight into terrain due to navigation equipment errors |
1948 Airborne Transport DC-3 (DST) disappearance | December 28, 1948 | 32/32 (missing, presumed dead) | Unknown |
1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash | January 5, 1950 | 19/19 | Landing failure due to heavy snow and strong winds |
1951 Ringway Dakota crash | March 27, 1951 | 2/3 | Icing leading to mechanical failure |
1951 LOT Li-2 Tuszyn air disaster | November 15, 1951 | 18/18 | Engine failure, loss of control |
1955 Cincinnati mid-air collision | January 12, 1955 | 2/2 (13/13 on second aircraft) | Mid-air collision with Martin 2-0-2A |
1967 Cebu Douglas C-47 crash | March 17, 1957 | 25/26 (including Ramon Magsaysay, the 7th President of the Philippines) | Metal fatigue |
Ethiopian Air Lines Flight 372 | July 15, 1960 | 1/11 | Controlled flight into terrain |
Aero Flight 311 | January 3, 1961 | 25/25 | Stall, pilot error |
1961 Derby Aviation crash | October 7, 1961 | 34/34 | Controlled flight into terrain due to navigational error |
New Zealand National Airways Corporation Flight 441 | July 3, 1963 | 23/23 | Wind shear, controlled flight into terrain |
Aero Flight 217 | November 8, 1963 | 22/25 | Controlled flight into terrain |
1978 Finnish Air Force DC-3 crash | October 3, 1978 | 15/15 | Cracked exhaust valve due to metal fatigue in an engine cylinder |
Florida Commuter Airlines crash | September 12, 1980 | 34/34 | Unknown, possible factors include weather, unreliable instruments due to discrepancies in the pitot-static system, and lack of proper operational oversight by airline management |
2010 Air Service Berlin Douglas C-47 crash | June 19, 2010 | 0/28 | Engine failure, exact cause under investigation |
2012 South African Air Force C-47 crash | December 5, 2012 | 11/11 | Under investigation |
2019 Colombia DC-3 crash | March 9, 2019 | 14/14 | Crashed into terrain, exact cause under investigation |