Le DC-3 : l'avion de ligne qui a permis aux compagnies aériennes d'être enfin rentables
Video from the channel Nat Geo France about Douglas DC-3, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 4:03. Language: French. Video type: Documentary.
Short documentary piece about how the Douglas DC-3 made American airlines profitable. In 1934, when President Franklin Roosevelt cancels the airmail contracts over corruption suspicions, the companies flying the Boeing 247 and the DC-2 need bigger aircraft, with more passengers and more range.
Douglas starts from the DC-2 and enlarges it: three more metres of wingspan, a wider tail unit and a fuselage almost 50% longer and wider, originally designed for berths. The first seven DC-3s carry up to 16. With seats, the cabin holds seven rows of three, that is, 21 passengers, and later versions add one seat per row. It also includes a galley, a lavatory and a wardrobe, and passengers can stand up in the cabin.
It reaches a cruising speed of 333 km/h and has a range of 2,400 km, which lets it connect Los Angeles and New York in under 18 hours with three stops.