The DC-3 airliner changed the face of commercial aviation, made long-distance passenger flying a routine, and is still flying today.
“Icons of Aviation History” is a diary series that explores significant and historic aircraft.
In 1935, American Airlines was looking for a new airplane. Boeing had introduced its Model 247, and Douglas had responded with the DC-1 and then the improved DC-2, but American Airlines, which was still flying Ford Trimotors, was not satisfied with either of those. They wanted something bigger, more economical to fly, and more roomy and comfortable for passengers—especially on overnight flights. In short, they wanted a better version of the DC-2.
Douglas Aircraft, on the other hand, was not enthusiastic. They were still manufacturing DC-2s and did not want to have to retool a factory to produce a new design, especially when they were not sure that other airlines would chip in with enough orders to make it practical. But American was insistent, and, taking advantage of one of FDR’s New Deal programs, borrowed enough money from the US Government to place a pre-order for twenty of the new airliners, sight unseen—enough to fund the entire development program.
The new DC-3 was essentially a modified and improved DC-2. It would begin by widening the fuselage by one-third and rounding it to make more passenger space. It would be driven by two Wright R-1820 Cyclone radial engines, each with 1,100 horsepower (this was upgraded in later versions to use Pratt and Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines). The DC-3 was capable of speeds up to 230mph, and its added fuel capacity meant it could fly nonstop from New York to Chicago, something no other passenger plane could do—and it could do it in about four hours. Douglas would make two versions of the plane: the standard “day plane” could carry 21 passengers, and the DST (“Douglas Sleeper Transport”, usually advertised as the “Skyliner”) version was intended for overnight routes and provided private sleeping berths, similar to those in railroad cars, for 16 passengers. DST versions could travel, in segments with fuel stops, from coast to coast in about 19 hours.
The plane began entering service in June 1936—and was an instant hit. Passengers loved the room and comfort, and airlines loved the range and fuel economy which made it quite profitable to operate. As orders poured in, the DC-3 quickly eclipsed the DC-2 and Boeing’s Model 247, and came to dominate long-distance commercial air travel. By 1939, some 90% of all long-distance commercial passenger travel was being carried by DC-2s and DC-3s.
Another important customer was the US military, which made a few changes, added a few doors, and converted the airliner into a transport and cargo plane, the C-47 Skytrain. Dubbed the “Gooney Bird”, it became the workhorse of the Army and Navy supply networks during the upcoming Second World War. It was also used for dropping paratroopers.
Douglas also gained considerable foreign sales from the DC-3. Holland wanted the DC-3 for European service and also to fly out of its colonies in the Pacific East Indies, but the Nazis invaded and conquered the Dutch before any could be produced. British airlines purchased the civilian versions, while the RAF obtained a large number of C-47 transports, dubbing them the “Dakota”. The Russians negotiated to manufacture the transport version with Soviet engines as the Lisunov Li-2: they produced around 5,000 of them but never paid any of the license fees. Even the Japanese, faced with the problem of ferrying supplies between their far-flung outposts in the Pacific, saw the DC-3/C-47 as the solution. They purchased several of the planes through dummy companies to hide their destination, copied them with Mitsubishi engines, and manufactured them throughout the war as the Showa L2D “Tabby”, making the transport unique as the only aircraft to be flown in the Pacific war by both the Americans and the Japanese.
After 1945, Douglas was once again able to concentrate on the civilian market; although the DC-3 had stopped production in 1942, the postwar world was flooded with surplus C-47s, which Douglas converted back into new DC-3s. With America entering its postwar economic boom, “travel” became affordable for many, the airline business exploded rapidly, and the DC-3 dominated air travel throughout the 1960s, declining only after Boeing introduced its Model 707. In all, some 16,000 planes, in different versions, were built. Even today, 80 years after the last one rolled off the production line, there are still dozens of DC-3s in active commercial service, flying routes between small airfields in outlying areas where the bigger planes cannot go.
NOTE: As some of you already know, all of my diaries here are draft chapters for a number of books I am working on. So I welcome any corrections you may have, whether it's typos or places that are unclear or factual errors. I think of y'all as my pre-publication editors and proofreaders. ;)