I question whether the date on this picture is correct. WWII began in Sept 1939 and for the U.S. not until Dec 1941. Yet it appears that "Buy War Bonds" is the logo over the passenger windows. Did somebody at the airline have a premonition? Also, five of the ten people walking up to the boarding stair appear to be in uniform and it seems unlikely there would be that many in Missoula, Montana in June 1939. EDITORS' REPLY: Good point. The picture information we got is likely in error. We will fix the caption.

Frank Collbohm became the first president of the RAND Corporation in 1948 when the studies and analyses activities at Douglas were separated and RAND became the USAF "think tank".

The pictured A /C is C /N 33090; ordered as USAAF TC-47B-30DK S /N 44-76758 seconded to USN as R4D-7 BuNo39108. Postwar Lake Central Airlines N21715. My references are Airbus, Boeing Convair & Douglas production lists web site and Joe Baugher's web site.

About the KLM DC3 it bears mention one of them placed second in the famous Melbourne race... a statement about how far the state of the art for commercial aircraft was at the time.

I flew in one of the first DC-3s, and some years later was co-pilot in an aging C-47 flying from MN to Barksdale AFB. I looked at the book, but also at the price. I'm on Social Security, got no increase in income (just expenses) and looks like the same for 2011. SO, good luck with it, to bad it didn't come out 15 yrs. ago. EDITORS' REPLY: Check used-book dealers on the web. Amazon.com lists many, and you can often find the same book used for much less.

i worked for northwest airlines at holeman field st paul mn in 1949 we had 25 martin 202 and 10 boeing stratacrusiers. holeman field was the overhaul base for nwa. what spirit we had and what fun to work in the days. i worked later at willow run for northwest (it was -29 below zero on turkey day 1949 in st paul. i worked that day double time, came to work the next day and put in for every job that was open from japan to new york city to get away from the cold up there. northwest went to delta and they merged. bye bye n w a. what a shame. jb, east china, mi.

I fell in love with the DC3 the 1st time I laid eyes on her; there is one parked on the tarmac in Bakersfield, CA. My husband and I were married in 2001 aboard "The Rose," a DC3 that has been sold, and I believe is now living in Brazil, but I could be wrong. I later found out that my father, while serving in the Navy during the Korean War, was a flight engineer aboard the C47 (among others).

When I think of the DC3, I think of Harry Gann: A founder of the DC3 Society. He was the McDonald Douglas historian and aerial photographer extraordinaire! He taught me everything I ever wanted to know about air-to-air photography during my time as a photographer with the Blue Angels in the 1980's. Harry LOVED the DC3.

The NWA DC3's were very common in Montana during the war. My father (Dick Allen) was in MSP and in 1943 trained pilots in Billings plus ran cargo up the Alcan. Ended up going back to MSP. He also got out of the cold and moved to Portland when they opened up the base for the Honolulu survey in 1948. He was one of the guinea pigs for the "fartin' Martin 2-0-2' s that had the nasty habit of dropping wings. The pilots grounded them, NWA sold them to two or three other carriers as "Martin 2-0-2 A's" Wow, what a comfort! The DC3's they had taken delivery of in 1939 (NWA was a Lockheed advocate until then) soldiered on through the secondary Rocky Mountain routes for the next fifteen years. DC4's took the trunk routes.

The KLM Douglas which nearly won the Melbourne Race in 1934 was a DC-2 'UIVER', which sadly was destroyed in a fatal crash near Rutbah Wells ,Iraq, 2 months after the race. The Cyclone engined KLM DC-3 'IBIS' (in your photo) escaped capture when Holland was invaded and was operating the Lisbon, Portugal-UK service for BOAC ('Flight 777') when it was shot down over the Bay of Biscay by the Luftwaffe in 1943

Sir, Your article on DC-3's is most enjoyable. I was a Flight Attendant for five years on DC-3's for West Coast airlines and then a pilot at WCA on the DC-3 for nine years. It was a great old Goony bird.
The person that questions the date of the picture may have a point but the comment about the passengers is questionable. Since the boarders are not wearing coats or carrying any items could possibly they be reboarding at a fuel stop? Missoula was one.

This article was interesting as far as it goes, but I have a question, why is there so very little written about the Navy Super DC-3, the R4D-8? I spent a lot of time flying around the eastern U.S. in one of these delivering pilots to various military bases during the late 50's through the mid 60's. Is the R4D-8 an orphan in relation to it's DC-3 cousins?

Great old bird, flew them for 1500 hours in the U.S. Air Force. Flew inter island in the Azores and Puff the Magic Dragon in Nam. Longest trip was a ferry job from Miami, FL to Bangkok, Thailand. Long trip with extra fuel tanks and it was nice to come home in a C-141.

As a twelve year old in New Delhi in 1952 I could recognise the sound signature of the DC3 - the Dakota as it was known in India - anywhere. We used them then on trunk routes such as from Delhi to Bombay (now Mumbai)with a refuelling stop at Nagpur. Even today I instinctively look up whenever an occasional DC3 with the unmistakable sound of its engines is in the sky over my home in Mumbai.

Gee, I wonder how many tons of marijuana have been carried by these babies. Dan L.

some DC3's are still flying. The Smoke Jumpers, forest fire fighters jump from DC3's based in Missoula Montana.

My dad told me that when he started with Eastern Airlines after WWII how roomy he thought the DC-3 was when compared to the tiger moth trainer and the fighters he flew in war. As an actor, I had the opportunity to play a C-47 pilot in a TV show and being 6'-1", I kept banging my head and my knees. My dad ended his career flying the L10-11 which was much more roomy than the DC-3. Flying the DC-3 was a dream job for my dad back in the day and I think he'd be very happy if he was still flying one for the great silver fleet.

The first model I built as a 10 year old in 1957 was a DC-3. At 19 in Feb 1967 the first aircraft I worked on as a newly minted A&P mechanic for Lake Central Airlines was the DC-3. I have spent almost 44 years in aircraft maintenance, presently with US AIRWAYS and in spite of memories of a -10 degree night changing a bottom jug with cold thick oil running down my arm, it is still my favorite plane. As an aside; I was being checked out on taxi & runup one night in 1967 by an old lead mecanic who everyone called "Sarge". After getting tower clearance for taxi onto 28R in Pittsburgh I was having trouble maintaining a straight line using differential braking. Old Sarge said "Let me show you how partner". He tapped the left rudder pedal, swung onto the 12,000 ft runway and imediately advanced the throttles to the firewall. Well the tail popped up and shortly the thump, thump of the tires over the gaps in the concrete was replaced by a gentle bouncing from main gear to main gear. We were for all intents and purposes FLYING! At the end of the runway he chopped the throttles, dropped the tail, turned around and repeated this exersise on the way back. I was shook up to say the least and upon our return related the incident to my fellow workers. They had a good laugh at my exspense after explaining to me that old Sarge had flown C-47s in Europe in WWII and could very well have taken that Goony around the patch.

My husband flew the DC3 from India to China in 1943-44 sometimes twice a day to supply the Fighting Tigers in China, one of whom we met at George AFB in Ca. in1951, & as luck would have it he was from La. & retired asa Brig. Gen.in
later years. Great story-teller with Cajun accent. In fact his Fighter Plane was found & brought back to B>R., La. & placed on display in small museum by the Miss. River here.
The first time I had ever flown was when husband came back to States & was Instrument Instructor at Love Field in Dallas, slipped me aboard on a Sunday afternoon with a Student, & had to find someone to clean plane afterwards.
The Civilian Instructor in Miss. who taught Flying was now also at Love Field & was a Buck Private. Strange events! We were then sent to England in 1948 for the Berlin Blockade. He retired as a Lt. Col. & took his final flight in 2005, & I am still blessed with AF check each month at age 87.

Love the story, thanks. I have flown over a 1000 hours in DC3's. Still my favorite flying airplane. Gentle old girl.
I am also a aircraft mechanic and inspector and spent a part of my career maintaining these planes.
The DC3 has left many a pleasant memory flying.
Last DC3 I flew was probably the last private corporate DC3.
Had a retract tail wheel, fuel jettision, Pan Am Wing, picture windows, full gallery, plush seats, couch.
Even had gear doors, flight directors, GPS, and still had the Nav bubble and the table for the Navigator. (Was a former C-47).
Cheers!

I have flown the Douglas masterpiece (thank you Ernie Gann),since 1987, as a freight,airshow,and ferry pilot. After 8,000 hours (roughly),of sunrises,sunsets,and all nighters on the wing,storms battled,and weather muddled through,crosswinds jousted with,an ocean crossed,and runways both turf,and tarmac graced,I have come to the conclusion that there is no finer airplane ever manufactured by the hand of man,(though a good case can be made for the 727,and 747),she still earns her keep, God's grace there will still be working DC-3's on the 100th birthday !

My company had a DC 3 amongst its be 18's and DH 4 Caribou and although i flew the 'bou and the 18's my favourite was the gooney bird, it just looked right! Prior to that I had worked for Ray Heady at Aircraft Associates, long beach on their DC3's, loved every minute.I finally flew our company's DC3 as a back up for one week and was allowed to fly left seat, I was amazed by how well it flew and how easy it was to land. But it did fight me on engine starts! What I would given to have flown one for a couple of years

Does anyone remenber the name of the operstor who flew DC3s out of New England down to Florida - supposed to have operated the last passenger revenue flight in DC 3 in USA
Thanks for the memories

Northeast Airlines flew DC-3s down the east coast to Florida.
Also maybe Colonial. (?) One had the "Yellow Bird".

Anybody know where I can get a model kit to build of the EAL DC-3 hanging in the Smithsonian? Balsa or plastic. Thanks.

In 1957, working as an Airline Hostess for Braniff, flying between Chicago and Iowa in a DC-3 after midnight....We had no passengers. The pilots invited me to the cockpit (or perhaps I invited myself) The copilot went to the back of the plane to sleep and the pilot allowed me to handle the controls. After seeing that I could hold straight and level, he went back for a cup of coffee. I was happy to be flying alone in that cockpit for over 15 minutes. Ah....happy memories of the DC-3

Buffalo Airways, Yellowknife, NWT, Canada, operates a fleet of DC3's carrying passengers and freight. They have DC3 scheduled service between Hay River and Yellowknife, about a 45 min. crossing of Great Slave Lake.