The Douglas DC-3 is a

propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

-driven airliner manufactured by

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...

, which had a lasting effect on the

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in whic ...

industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version of the

Douglas DC-2 The Douglas DC-2 is a 14-passenger, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3, which b ...

. It is a

low-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

metal monoplane with

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

, powered by two radial piston engines of . (Although most DC-3s flying today use

Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp The Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp is an American air-cooled radial aircraft engine. It displaces and its bore and stroke are both . The design traces its history to 1929 experiments at Pratt & Whitney on twin-row designs. Production began ...

engines, many DC-3s built for civil service originally had the

Wright R-1820 Cyclone The Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 is an American radial engine developed by Curtiss-Wright, widely used on aircraft in the 1930s through 1950s. It was produced under license in France as the Hispano-Suiza 9V or Hispano-Wright 9V, and in the Soviet Uni ...

.) The DC-3 has a cruising speed of , a capacity of 21 to 32 passengers or 6,000 lbs (2,700 kg) of cargo, and a range of , and can operate from short runways. The DC-3 had many exceptional qualities compared to previous aircraft. It was fast, had a good range, was more reliable, and carried passengers in greater comfort. Before the war, it pioneered many air travel routes. It was able to cross the continental United States from New York to Los Angeles in 18 hours, with only three stops. It is one of the first airliners that could profitably carry only passengers without relying on mail subsidies. Following the war, the airliner market was flooded with surplus transport aircraft, and the DC-3 was no longer competitive due to its inadequate size and slow speed. It was made obsolete on main routes by more advanced types such as the

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 19 ...

and

Lockheed Constellation The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") is a propeller-driven, four-engined airliner built by Lockheed Corporation starting in 1943. The Constellation series was the first pressurized-cabin civil airliner series to go into widespread use. Its pres ...

, but the design proved adaptable and useful on less commercially demanding routes. Civilian DC-3 production ended in 1942 at 607 aircraft. Military versions, including the

C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service br ...

(the Dakota in British

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

service), and Soviet- and Japanese-built versions, brought total production to over 16,000. Many continued to be used in a variety of niche roles; 2,000 DC-3s and military derivatives were estimated to be still flying in 2013; a 2017 article put the number at that time at more than 300.

Design and development

"DC" stands for "Douglas Commercial". The DC-3 was the culmination of a development effort that began after an inquiry from Transcontinental and Western Airlines (TWA) to Donald Douglas. TWA's rival in transcontinental air service,

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

, was starting service with the

Boeing 247 The Boeing Model 247 is an early United States airliner, and one of the first such aircraft to incorporate advances such as all-metal (anodized aluminum) semimonocoque construction, a fully cantilevered wing, and retractable landing gear.

, and Boeing refused to sell any 247s to other airlines until United's order for 60 aircraft had been filled. TWA asked Douglas to design and build an aircraft that would allow TWA to compete with United. Douglas' design, the 1933

DC-1 The Douglas DC-1 was the first model of the famous American DC (Douglas Commercial) commercial transport aircraft series. Although only one example of the DC-1 was produced, the design was the basis for the DC-2 and DC-3, the latter of which bei ...

, was promising, and led to the

DC-2 The Douglas DC-2 is a 14-passenger, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3, which bec ...

in 1934. The DC-2 was a success, but with room for improvement. Engine of Douglas DC-3

The DC-3 resulted from a marathon telephone call from

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

CEO

C. R. Smith Cyrus Rowlett "C.R." Smith (September 9, 1899 – April 4, 1990) was the CEO of American Airlines from 1934 to 1968 and from 1973 to 1974. He was also the wartime deputy commander of the Air Transport Command during World War II, and the United ...

to Donald Douglas, when Smith persuaded a reluctant Douglas to design a sleeper aircraft based on the DC-2 to replace American's Curtiss Condor II biplanes. The DC-2's cabin was wide, too narrow for side-by-side berths. Douglas agreed to go ahead with development only after Smith informed him of American's intention to purchase 20 aircraft. The new aircraft was engineered by a team led by chief engineer Arthur E. Raymond over the next two years, and the prototype DST (Douglas Sleeper Transport) first flew on December 17, 1935 (the 32nd anniversary of the Wright Brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk) with Douglas chief test pilot

Carl Cover Carl Anson Cover (26 April 1893 – 27 November 1944) was the chief test pilot and first to fly the Douglas Aircraft Company DC-1, DC-2, DC-3, DC-4, and the DC-5 airliners. Cover became Senior Vice President and general manager for Douglas Ai ...

at the controls. Its cabin was wide, and a version with 21 seats instead of the 14–16 sleeping berths of the DST was given the designation DC-3. No prototype was built, and the first DC-3 built followed seven DSTs off the production line for delivery to American Airlines. dc3

The DC-3 and DST popularized air travel in the United States. Eastbound transcontinental flights could cross the U.S. in about 15 hours with three refueling stops, while westbound trips against the wind took hours. A few years earlier, such a trip entailed short hops in slower and shorter-range aircraft during the day, coupled with train travel overnight. Several

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is cal ...

s were offered for the DC-3. Early-production civilian aircraft used either the 9-cylinder

Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 The Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 is an American radial engine developed by Curtiss-Wright, widely used on aircraft in the 1930s through 1950s. It was produced under license in France as the Hispano-Suiza 9V or Hispano-Wright 9V, and in the Soviet Uni ...

or the 14-cylinder

, but the Twin Wasp was chosen for most military versions and was also used by most DC-3s converted from military service. Five DC-3S ''Super DC-3s'' with

Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp The Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp is an American radial engine developed in 1942 to power military aircraft. It is one of the Pratt & Whitney Wasp series of Radial engines. Design and development The R-2000 was an enlarged version of the ...

s were built in the late 1940s, three of which entered airline service.

Production

Total production including all military variants was 16,079.Gradidge 2006, p. 20. More than 400 remained in commercial service in 1998. Production was: * 607 civilian variants * 10,048 military C-47 and C-53 derivatives built at

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

, and

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

* 4,937 built under license in the Soviet Union (1939–1950) as the

Lisunov Li-2 The Lisunov Li-2 (NATO reporting name: Cab), originally designated PS-84, was a license-built Soviet-version of the Douglas DC-3. It was produced by Factory #84 in Moscow-Khimki and, after evacuation in 1941, at TAPO in Tashkent. The proje ...

(

NATO reporting name NATO reporting names are code names for military equipment from Russia, China, and historically, the Eastern Bloc (Soviet Union and other nations of the Warsaw Pact). They provide unambiguous and easily understood English words in a uniform mann ...

: Cab) * 487

Mitsubishi Kinsei The was a 14-cylinder, air-cooled, twin-row radial aircraft engine developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan in 1934 for the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Mitsubishi model designation for this engine was A8 while it was an experimental p ...

-engined aircraft built by Showa and Nakajima in Japan (1939–1945), as the L2D Type 0 transport (Allied codename ''Tabby'') Production of DSTs ended in mid-1941 and civilian DC-3 production ended in early 1943, although dozens of the DSTs and DC-3s ordered by airlines that were produced between 1941 and 1943 were pressed into the US military service while still on the production line. Military versions were produced until the end of the war in 1945. A larger, more powerful Super DC-3 was launched in 1949 to positive reviews. The civilian market was flooded with second-hand C-47s, many of which were converted to passenger and cargo versions. Only five Super DC-3s were built, and three of them were delivered for commercial use. The prototype Super DC-3 served the US Navy with the designation YC-129 alongside 100 R4Ds that had been upgraded to the Super DC-3 specifications.

Turboprop conversions

From the early 1950s, some DC-3s were modified to use

Rolls-Royce Dart The Rolls-Royce RB.53 Dart is a turboprop engine designed and manufactured by Rolls-Royce Limited. First run in 1946, it powered the Vickers Viscount on its maiden flight in 1948. A flight on July 29 of that year, which carried 14 paying passe ...

engines, as in the Conroy Turbo Three. Other conversions featured

Armstrong Siddeley Mamba The Armstrong Siddeley Mamba was a British turboprop engine produced by Armstrong Siddeley in the late 1940s and 1950s, producing around 1,500 effective horsepower (1,100 kW). Armstrong Siddeley gas turbine engines were named after snak ...

or Pratt & Whitney PT6A

turbines A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...

. The Greenwich Aircraft Corp DC-3-TP is a conversion with an extended fuselage and with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65AR or PT6A-67R engines fitted. The

Basler BT-67 The Basler BT-67 is a utility aircraft produced by Basler Turbo Conversions of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It is a remanufactured and modified Douglas DC-3; the modifications are designed to significantly extend the DC-3's serviceable lifetime. Desig ...

is a conversion of the DC-3/C-47. Basler refurbishes C-47s and DC-3s at Oshkosh,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michi ...

, fitting them with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67R turboprop engines, lengthening the fuselage by with a fuselage plug ahead of the wing, and some local strengthening of the airframe. South Africa-based Braddick Specialised Air Services International (commonly referred to as BSAS International) has also performed Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboprop conversions, having performed modifications on over 50 DC-3/C-47s / 65ARTP / 67RTP / 67FTPs.

Operational history

Douglas C-47B EP-ACK Iranian Natnl Ringway 24

American Airlines inaugurated passenger service on June 26, 1936, with simultaneous flights from

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Chicago, Illinois. Early U.S. airlines like

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, United,

TWA Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with F ...

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

, and

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

ordered over 400 DC-3s. These fleets paved the way for the modern American air travel industry, which eventually replaced

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often kno ...

s as the favored means of long-distance travel across the United States. A nonprofit group, Flagship Detroit Foundation, continues to operate the only original American Airlines Flagship DC-3 with air show and airport visits throughout the U.S."DC-3"
Flagship Detroit Foundation. Retrieved October 7, 2010. In 1936,

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

Royal Dutch Airlines received its first DC-3, which replaced the DC-2 in service from Amsterdam via Batavia (now

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

) to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

, by far the world's longest scheduled route at the time. In total, KLM bought 23 DC-3s before the war broke out in Europe. In 1941, a

China National Aviation Corporation The China National Aviation Corporation () was a Chinese airline which was nationalized after the Chinese Communist Party took control in 1949, and merged into the People's Aviation Company of China () in 1952. It was a major airline under the ...

(CNAC) DC-3 pressed into wartime transportation service was bombed on the ground at Suifu Airfield in China, destroying the outer right wing. The only spare available was that of a smaller Douglas DC-2 in CNAC's workshops. The DC-2's right wing was removed, flown to Suifu under the belly of another CNAC DC-3, and bolted up to the damaged aircraft. After a single test flight, in which it was discovered that it pulled to the right due to the difference in wing sizes, the so-called DC-2½ was flown to safety. During World War II, many civilian DC-3s were drafted for the war effort and more than 10,000 U.S. military versions of the DC-3 were built, under the designations C-47, C-53, R4D, and Dakota. Peak production was reached in 1944, with 4,853 being delivered. The armed forces of many countries used the DC-3 and its military variants for the transport of troops, cargo, and wounded. Licensed copies of the DC-3 were built in Japan as the Showa L2D (487 aircraft); and in the Soviet Union as the

(4,937 aircraft). After the war, thousands of cheap ex-military DC-3s became available for civilian use.

Cubana de Aviación Cubana de Aviación S.A., commonly known as Cubana, is Cuba's flag carrier, as well as the country's largest airline. It was founded in , becoming one of the earliest airlines to emerge in Latin America. It has its corporate headquarters in Ha ...

became the first Latin American airline to offer a scheduled service to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at the ...

when it started its first scheduled international service from

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

in 1945 with a DC-3. Cubana used DC-3s on some domestic routes well into the 1960s. Douglas developed an improved version, the Super DC-3, with more power, greater cargo capacity, and an improved wing, but with surplus aircraft available for cheap, they failed to sell well in the civilian aviation market. Only five were delivered, three of them to Capital Airlines. The U.S. Navy had 100 of its early R4Ds converted to Super DC-3 standard during the early 1950s as the

Douglas R4D-8/C-117D The Douglas R4D-8 (later redesignated C-117D) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3S (Super DC-3) airliner. It was used by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps during the Korean War and Vietna ...

. The last U.S. Navy C-117 was retired July 12, 1976. The last U.S. Marine Corps C-117, serial 50835, was retired from active service during June 1982. Several remained in service with small airlines in North and South America in 2006. The

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...

used the DC-3 for smoke jumping and general transportation until the last example was retired in December 2015. A number of aircraft companies attempted to design a "DC-3 replacement" over the next three decades (including the very successful

Fokker F27 Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europ ...

), but no single type could match the versatility, rugged reliability, and economy of the DC-3. It remained a significant part of air transport systems well into the 1970s.

DC-3 today

Perhaps unique among prewar aircraft, the DC-3 continues to fly in active commercial and military service as of 2021, eighty-six years after the type's first flight in 1935. There are still small operators with DC-3s in revenue service and as

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

aircraft. Current uses of the DC-3 include passenger service, aerial spraying, freight transport, military transport, missionary flying,

skydiver Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or parachutes. Fo ...

shuttling and sightseeing. The very large number of civil and military operators of the DC-3/C-47 and related types makes a listing of all the airlines, air forces and other current operators impracticable. A common saying among aviation enthusiasts and pilots is "the only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3". Its ability to use grass or dirt runways makes it popular in developing countries or remote areas, where runways may be unpaved. The oldest surviving DST is N133D, the sixth Douglas Sleeper Transport built, manufactured in 1936. This aircraft was delivered to

on 12 July 1936 as NC16005. In 2011 it was at Shell Creek Airport,

Punta Gorda, Florida , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = , image_skyline = Punta Gorda City Hall.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Punta Gorda City Hall , image_fla ...

. It has been repaired and has been flying again. The most recent flight was on 25 April 2021. The oldest DC-3 still flying is the original American Airlines ''Flagship Detroit'' (c/n 1920, the 43rd aircraft off the Santa Monica production line, delivered on 2 March 1937), which appears at airshows around the United States and is owned and operated by the Flagship Detroit Foundation. The base price of a new DC-3 in 1936 was around $60,000–$80,000, and by 1960 used examples were available for $75,000. As of 2020 there are still aircraft being remanufactured and heavily modified to

utility planes, for use by commercial cargo airlines.

Original operators

Variants

Civil

;DST :Douglas Sleeper Transport; the initial variant with two

engines and standard sleeper accommodation for up to 16 with small upper windows, convertible to carry up to 24 day passengers. ;DST-A :DST with

engines ;DC-3 :Initial non-sleeper variant; with 21 day-passenger seats, Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines, no upper windows. ;DC-3A :DC-3 with Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines. ;DC-3B :Version of DC-3 for TWA, with two Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines and smaller convertible sleeper cabin forward with fewer upper windows than DST. ; TransNorthern DC-3 landing at ANC

:Designation for ex-military C-47, C-53, and R4D aircraft rebuilt by Douglas Aircraft in 1946, given new manufacturer numbers, and sold on the civil market; Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engines. ;DC-3D :Designation for 28 new aircraft completed by Douglas in 1946 with unused components from the cancelled USAAF C-117 production line; Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engines. ; :Also known as Super DC-3, substantially redesigned DC-3 with fuselage lengthened by ; outer wings of a different shape with squared-off wingtips and shorter span; distinctive taller rectangular tail; and fitted with more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2000 or Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines. Five completed by Douglas for civil use using existing surplus secondhand airframes. Three Super DC-3s were operated by Capital Airlines 1950–1952. Designation also used for examples of the 100 R4Ds that had been converted by Douglas to this standard for the U.S. Navy as R4D-8s (later designated C-117Ds), all fitted with more powerful Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines, some of which entered civil use after retirement from military service.

Military

;C-41, C-41A :The C-41 was the first DC-3 to be ordered by the USAAC and was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-1830-21 engines. It was delivered in October 1938 for use by

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ...

(USAAC) chief General

Henry H. Arnold Henry Harley Arnold (June 25, 1886 – January 15, 1950) was an American general officer holding the ranks of General of the Army and later, General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps (1938–1941), ...

with the passenger cabin fitted out in a 14-seat VIP configuration. The C-41A was a single VIP DC-3A supplied to the USAAC in September 1939, also powered by R-1830-21 engines; and used by the

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

. The forward cabin converted to sleeper configuration with upper windows similar to the DC-3B. ;C-48 :Various DC-3A and DST models; 36 impressed as C-48, C-48A, C-48B, and C-48C. :*C-48 - 1 impressed ex-

United Air Lines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

DC-3A. :*C-48A - 3 impressed DC-3As with 18-seat interiors. :*C-48B - 16 impressed ex-United Air Lines DST-A

air ambulance Air medical services is a comprehensive term covering the use of air transportation, aeroplane or helicopter, to move patients to and from healthcare facilities and accident scenes. Personnel provide comprehensive prehospital and emergency and cri ...

s with 16-berth interiors. :*C-48C - 16 impressed DC-3As with 21-seat interiors. ;C-49 :Various DC-3 and DST models; 138 impressed into service as C-49, C-49A, C-49B, C-49C, C-49D, C-49E, C-49F, C-49G, C-49H, C-49J, and C-49K. ;C-50 :Various DC-3 models, fourteen impressed as C-50, C-50A, C-50B, C-50C, and C-50D. ;C-51 :One impressed aircraft originally ordered by Canadian Colonial Airlines, had starboard-side door. ;C-52 :DC-3A aircraft with R-1830 engines, five impressed as C-52, C-52A, C-52B, C-52C, and C-52D. ;C-68 :Two DC-3As impressed with 21-seat interiors. ;C-84 :One impressed DC-3B aircraft. ;Dakota II :British

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) a ...

designation for impressed DC-3s. ;LXD1 :A single DC-3 supplied for evaluation by the

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service The was the air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War. The Japanese military acquired their first aircraft in 1910 ...

(IJNAS). ;R4D-2 :Two Eastern Air Lines DC-3-388s impressed into

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

(USN) service as VIP transports, later designated R4D-2F and later R4D-2Z. ;R4D-4 :Ten DC-3As impressed for use by the USN. ;R4D-4R :Seven DC-3s impressed as staff transports for the USN. ;R4D-4Q :Radar countermeasures version of R4D-4 for the USN.

Conversions

Maritime Patrol and Rescue Conroy Tri-Turbo Three Fitzgerald

;Dart-Dakota: for BEA test services, powered by two

turboprop engines. ;Mamba-Dakota: A single conversion for the Ministry of Supply, powered by two Armstrong-Siddeley Mamba turboprop engines. ;Airtech DC-3/2000 :DC-3/C-47 engine conversion by Airtech Canada, first offered in 1987. Powered by two PZL ASz-62IT radial engines. ;

:DC-3/C-47 conversion with a stretched fuselage, strengthened structure, modern avionics, and powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT-6A-67R turboprop engines. ;BSAS C-47TP Turbo Dakota :A South African C-47 conversion for the

South African Air Force "Through hardships to the stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

by Braddick Specialised Air Services, with two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65R turboprop engines, revised systems, stretched fuselage, and modern avionics. ; Conroy Turbo-Three :One DC-3/C-47 converted by Conroy Aircraft with two Rolls-Royce Dart Mk. 510 turboprop engines. ;Conroy Super-Turbo-Three :Same as the Turbo Three but converted from a Super DC-3. One converted. ; Conroy Tri-Turbo-Three :Conroy Turbo Three further modified by the removal of the two Rolls-Royce Dart engines and their replacement by three Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6s (one mounted on each wing and one in the nose). ;Greenwich Aircraft Corp Turbo Dakota DC-3 :DC-3/C-47 conversion with a stretched fuselage, strengthened wing center section, updated systems, and powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65AR turboprop engines. ;Ts-62 :Douglas-built airframe fitted with Russian

Shvetsov ASh-62 The Shvetsov ASh-62 (Russian: АШ-62, designated M-62 before 1941) is a nine-cylinder, air-cooled, radial aircraft engine produced in the Soviet Union. A version of this engine is produced in Poland as the ASz-62 and the People's Republic of Ch ...

radial engines after World War II due to shortage of American engines in the Soviet Union. ;Ts-82 :Similar to Ts-62, but with

Shvetsov ASh-82 The Shvetsov ASh-82 (M-82) is a Soviet 14-cylinder, two-row, air-cooled radial aircraft engine developed from the Shvetsov M-62. The M-62 was the result of development of the M-25, which was a licensed version of the Wright R-1820 Cyclone. De ...

radial engines of 1,650 hp. ;USAC DC-3 Turbo Express :A turboprop conversion by the United States Aircraft Corporation, fitting Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-45R turboprop engines with an extended forward fuselage to maintain center of gravity. First flight of the prototype conversion, (N300TX), was on July 29, 1982.Taylor 1983

Military and foreign derivatives

; Douglas C-47 Skytrain and C-53 Skytrooper :Production military DC-3A variants. ; Showa and Nakajima L2D :Developments manufactured under license in Japan by the Nakajima and Showa for the IJNAS; 487 built. ; Lisunov Li-2 and PS-84 :Developments manufactured under license in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

; 4,937 built.

Accidents and incidents

Specifications (DC-3A-S1C3G)

Notable appearances in media

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Francillon, René. ''McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Since 1920: Volume I''. London: Putnam, 1979. . * Gradidge, Jennifer M. ''The Douglas DC-1/DC-2/DC-3: The First Seventy Years, Volumes One and Two''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2006. . * Holden, Henry M.. ''The Douglas DC-3''. Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: TAB Books, 1991. . * Kaplan, Philip. ''Legend: A Celebration of the Douglas DC-3/C-47/Dakota''. Peter Livanos & Philip Kaplan, 2009. . * O'Leary, Michael. ''DC-3 and C-47 Gooney Birds''. St. Paul, Minnesota: Motorbooks International, 1992. . * O'Leary, Michael. ''When Fords Ruled the Sky (Part Two)''. ''Air Classics'', Volume 42, No. 5, May 2006. * Pearcy, Arthur. ''Douglas DC-3 Survivors, Volume 1''. Bourne End, Bucks, UK: Aston Publications, 1987. . * Pearcy, Arthur. ''Douglas Propliners: DC-1–DC-7''. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1995. . * * Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft, 1982–83''. London: Jane's Publishing Company, 1983. . * * Yenne, Bill. ''McDonnell Douglas: A Tale of Two Giants''. Greenwich, Connecticut: Bison Books, 1985. .

External links

Boeing: Historical Snapshot: DC-3 Commercial Transport

DC-3/Dakota Historical Society

The DC-3 Hangar – Douglas DC-3 specific site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas Dc-3 1930s United States airliners World War II transport aircraft of the United States DC-03 Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1935 Retractable conventional landing gear Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft