Simviation Forums

so happy to have this souvenir......flight museum langley....

You are very lucky indeed.

I take it that's Langley BC?
They certainly didn't have that DC-3 the
last time I was there.

Anthin.

Back when planes were planes and men were men.

And young boys made balsa planes
powered by a rubber band.

Anthin.

Once you have made a few trips in the DC-3 you will never forget it. If you are an Aviator airplanes like the DC-3 get into your blood and your psyche. You will always remember the sound, the feel, the smell and how the airplane climbed, cruised, bounced in turbulence.............and how it LANDED. What a great flying machine and its hard to believe it first flew in 1935. It was ahead of its time and some are still out there working ,[Buffalo Airways etc.]

I always look fondly at the Langley Dc-3 when my Wife and I go by that way.

Many names and numbers were assigned to the DC-3. England labeled it the "Dakota" or "Dak." American pilots, during World War II, called it the 'Skytrain," "Skytrooper," "Doug," or "Gooney Bird." The U.S. military's official titles were C-47, C-53, C-117, and R4D. The airlines called it "The Three." Of all the names the affectionate title "Gooney Bird" lingers on.

You forgot about the awesome AC-47 nicknamed Puff, The Magic Dragon. Vietnam era!!!

what i've never understood how, when, where or why......was that i noticed that there were different versions...basically the fuselage shape....my favorite was the nicely tapered one with roundish sides....but some were seemingly a bit longer, a little fatter at the rear, and some with flattish windows.....i can't remember all the differences......am i delusional?...was i imagining things?........

Definitely a picture to treasure and bring back a happy memory

Cheers
Rich

The 6 we had in Nam in 67-68 were of standard size that were G.I. issued. Maybe someone had some made with custom specs. Very interesting topic though, think I will research that and let you know if I found out any thing different.

yancovitch wrote:what i've never understood how, when, where or why......was that i noticed that there were different versions...basically the fuselage shape....my favorite was the nicely tapered one with roundish sides....but some were seemingly a bit longer, a little fatter at the rear, and some with flattish windows.....i can't remember all the differences......am i delusional?...was i imagining things?........

Sounds like you are describing the C-46 Commando, made by Curtiss

Rifleman wrote:

yancovitch wrote:what i've never understood how, when, where or why......was that i noticed that there were different versions...basically the fuselage shape....my favorite was the nicely tapered one with roundish sides....but some were seemingly a bit longer, a little fatter at the rear, and some with flattish windows.....i can't remember all the differences......am i delusional?...was i imagining things?........

Sounds like you are describing the C-46 Commando, made by Curtiss

Flying over Duxford, way down there below the tail

haha....but no....the changes i was mentioning are very subtle ones....many would not even notice......the C-46 is one interesting ship though.......looks like it might be more unwieldy to fly.......that design doesn't get my heart pumping though
when a kid, i had a plastic model of a dc-3, maybe 72nd scale which was lovely...don't remember the manufacturer....then monogram came out with a large 47th scale version......and i didn't quite like it, as the proportions weren't quite right to me...............that was the first time i started noticing the differences here and there.........