Aviones que cambiaron el Mundo| Douglas DC-3
Video from the channel Hora de Vuelo about Douglas DC-3, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 12:19. Language: Spanish. Video type: Documentary.
What it's about
History of the Douglas DC-3, from the TWA order that gave rise to it through its role in the Second World War, the post-war years and its use today.
Historical context
In 1932 Jack Frye of TWA wrote to Donald Douglas: United held priority on Boeing 247 deliveries, and TWA wanted a superior aircraft with 12 passengers and a 1,600 km range. Arthur Emmons Raymond's team proposed a twin-engine design when TWA expected a trimotor, making intensive use of the wind tunnel with more than 200 tests, and introducing fillets between wing and fuselage. The DC-1 was unveiled in June 1933, with a low wing, retractable gear and 12 seats; the 14-seat DC-2 followed. In 1935 American Airlines requested a 14-berth version, the Douglas Sleeper Transport, with a larger, cylindrical fuselage; with 21 seats it became the DC-3, which flew that same year and was built in Long Beach.
During the war, the C-47 added a large cargo door and a reinforced floor; more than 10,000 were built, and over 800 dropped paratroopers on D-Day. After the war it powered airlines such as Avianca and Aerolíneas Argentinas, flew in the 1948-1949 Berlin Airlift to Tempelhof, and, as the AC-47, served in Vietnam with three 7.62 mm machine guns on its left side.
Key facts
Wingspan of 29 m, height of 5.15 m and maximum takeoff weight of 11,800 kg, with two 1,200 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp engines, a cruise speed of 200 knots (330 km/h) and a range of over 2,000 km. It featured feathering propellers, an autopilot, and ADF and VOR radio navigation. By 1939, 350 units had already been delivered; today around 400 remain in operation, and it could become the first aircraft with 100 years of service, in 2035.