The takeoff is smooth, and soon they're cruising along towards the Denver TCA.
The captain raises Stapleton Tower on the radio, and they're directed to 26r. Not sure if there was a 26R at Stapleton in the 1950s, but here's a snippet of an early-60s sectional showing the airport which was later replaced by Denver International, a few miles north. Stapleton is now a condo development, I believe...
At any rate, Denver was and still is Frontier's headquarters.
As they intercept the glide slope, it's apparent that they don't quite have enough airspeed. "Don't let it sink too much," the captain reminds the copilot.
"Yessir, I know..."
He lets it sink a little too much.
"If you want to land on the grass, try going alongside the runway, not before it", the captain advises.
The landing is a bit too firm, and a 3-pointer to boot.
"Well, at least nobody got hurt..." says the captain. The copilot glances at him and sees that he's grinning...
Another crew will be taking 276 back to Billings at 1600; our "heroes" will be laying over for a 0730 flight to salt Lake City in another DC3.
Next: Denver to Salt Lake City.
