This partial chapter from Henry Holden’s book “The legacy of the DC-3” deals with the DC-3  As you read down you will find we have provided you with all of the subtitles and a very brief description of what is contained. Absent are 33 very large photos from the period described and 31 pages of text. The complete book “The legacy of the DC-3” is now on CD and may be purchased by contacting Mr. Holden at DC-3/Dakota Historical Society Book Store. All photos may be purchased framed or unframed by visiting our photo store at DC-3/Dakota Historical SocietyPhoto Store

 

The Genesis of The Legend
 
"We made the DC-3 without a computer to test it. There was plenty of data from the DC-1 and DC-2 to formulate the design. Often we got down on the floor and worked things out ourselves. There was personal ingenuity, and application, and we made things happen overnight." Ivar Shogran ; Chief Power Plant Engineer "; Douglas Aircraft Company

In this American Airlines DST "Flagship San Francisco." The DST had eight 14 X 27 inch rectangular windows on each side of the fuselage and the upper berth windows, above the first, third, fifth, and seventh main windows clearly in evidence in this photo were 5 X 27 inch panels, and a clear identification of a DST.  Two cabin windows served each lower bunk.  Another identifying mark was the engine cowlings.  This aircraft at the time the photo was taken had the Wright Cyclone engines which were enclosed in round, tight-fitting cowls without cooling flaps.  (see fig.6-37).  This DST NC 28325, c/n 2263 was sold to Transcontinental & Western Air and from there it became a C-49E with the USAAF. Photograph courtesy of McDonnell Douglas

Cyrus Rowlett Smith, President of American Airlines and William Littlewood, American Airlines. vice president of engineering, had both flown in the DC-2 and did not like some of its performance characteristics, although it was a marked improvement over the Boeing 247. It had the highest rated engines in use at the time, but they felt it lacked power. It carried 14 passengers, two more than the DC-1. Moreover, it could not make New York to Chicago, non-stop, although it was faster than any other airliner on that route. They also had reports that, at times, it was difficult to land, with heavy aileron and rudder control. Additional reports of directional instability, propeller, and fin icing problems and yawing excessively in turbulence also concerned them.

While the DC-2 performed better with an engine failure than the tri motors, or Boeing 247, a training crew exercising a single engine go-around created a nearly fatal spin incident. Douglas engineers extended the fin area and increased the margin between the single engine climb speed, and the vertical fin stall speed. That solved the problem. These problems were even more reason Smith and Littlewood wanted a new design.

   ................................................................................................................Cyril R. Smith

Littlewood was anxious to convince Douglas that what he wanted was possible, so he sat with his engineers in late 1934 and began to redesign the DC-2. Littlewood's sketches of the proposed sleeper would closely resemble the actual Douglas Sleeper Transport (DST). Soon after the American Airlines team began to put requirements on paper, they invited Arthur Raymond to join the discussions. By May 10, 1935, Arthur Raymond had produced "Douglas Aircraft Report No. 1004." This report outlined performance and other characteristics of the developing transport, and would be used for the initial engineering of the airplane.

                                                                                               

  Soon after C. R. Smith read the report he telephoned Donald Douglas with a proposal. Smith had decided what kind of airplane American needed. He was looking for a larger and more comfortable airplane than his Condors or Fords, and better than the Boeing 247. He also wanted something bigger than the DC-2. Smith wanted to give his customers safe, comfortable, and reliable transportation, and his Condor "Sleepers" and Fords simply did not measure up to these standards. The airplane
Smith was looking for had been described in Raymond's report.

At first, Douglas did not react strongly or positively to Smith's proposal. He was reluctant to take on a new design and the associated headaches. The DC-2 was in full production with 102 machines already manufactured, and another 90 orders on the assembly line.2 A new model would mean new tooling and starting over another gamble.
William Littlewood. Photograph courtesy of American Airlines

Smith spent over $300 on a two-hour long distance call before he finally convinced Douglas to modify a DC-2 to American's sleeper requirements. Some have said if Smith had not persisted and made an offer, Douglas would never have built the DC-3. Douglas nevertheless was skeptical. Night flying was about as popular as the plague, and he wondered about Smith's business sense. Where would Smith get the millions of dollars needed to finance this venture and who would want to sleep in an airplane? After all, the Fords were noisy and the Condors were cramped..

In 1966, American Airlines synthesized the capabilities of a modern "universal airplane" like the DC-3 was in its day. Their requirements went to McDonnell Douglas who met with other airlines to determine the market potential.

After there was general agreement among the airlines on the potential, a detailed evaluation process began. The airline's total needs, from the number of aircraft, to passenger accommodations, facility requirements, and total economic impact was part of the evaluation.

Before a firm commitment, the various disciplines of engineering, operations, marketing, and finance made feasibility studies. The result of this process was the McDonnell-Douglas DC-10 (now MD-11), a far different approach to building an airplane than the telephone agreement of 1935.

The Great Depression had created hard times for many of America 's industries and the government had formed the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to loan money to the private sector. Cyrus Smith took advantage of this agency and obtained a loan to fund the development of the new design. On July 8, 1935, Smith sent a telegram to Douglas ordering ten transports costing $795,000. The actual specifications for Smith's proposed airplane arrived at Douglas Aircraft on November 14, 1935 (long after construction had begun). Before the first flight of the DC-3, American doubled their initial order to include eight DSTs and 12 DC-3s. By the time the actual contract was signed on April 8, 1936, American Airlines and Donald Douglas both had a heavy financial commitment.3 In today"s business environment the contract always precedes work, but in 1935, American Airlines had such faith in Douglas' dependability and integrity that the order came first and the contract after delivery.

At the Newcomen Society's annual dinner in 1955, Cyrus Smith introduced Donald Douglas as the honored speaker. In response to Smith's gracious testimonial, Douglas gave Smith his due. "This is an ideal time to acknowledge our debt of gratitude to my good friend, C.R. Smith, for his part in the development of the DC-3.

 

This DC-2 is an early example of the extended fin area, a modification that led to the DC-3.  This DC-2, VH-USY, c/n 1580 was delivered in January 1936 to Holyman's Airways. It was named "Bungana" (meaning Big Chief in Tasmanian) and incorporated into the Australia National Airlines (ANA) fleet in Nov. 1936. It remained with them until December 1947 when it was withdrawn from service.  Photograph courtesy of McDonnell Douglas

 He had tremendous faith in us, and in the future of air travel. His boundless energy, clear vision, and uncanny knack in making the right decision at the right time were the catalytic agents that greatly influenced us in taking steps to build that famous airplane.
 
DC-3 ON PAPER

The plan called for using the DC-2 design as a starting point. Widening. and rounding the fuselage would allow enough space for the berths, and increasing the power would help lift the larger plane. Littlewood had discussed the design with engineers at Curtiss-Wright, and they told him they could modify the 855 hp engines on the DC-2 to deliver ..."

 DC-3 ANALYSIS

WINGS: "Wings are of cantilever, internally braced, multi-spar, stressed-skin type construction, consisting of formed aluminum alloy sheet and extruded members riveted and ..".

EMPENNAGE: "Multi-cellular construction of formed aluminum alloy sheet and ..".

FUSELAGE: "The fuselage is of all-metal, semi-monologue construction, almost circular in section and built up of channel-section transverse frames, or formers, and..."

LANDING GEAR: "Landing gear consists of two independent wheel units, located under an engine nacelle and attached to the primary spar of the center ..."   
 
 ENGINE INSTALLATION: "Two Wright Cyclone 1,000 hp radial air-cooled engines are installed. Each engine is enclosed in a ..."

PROPELLERS: "In order to provide maximum propulsive efficiency and better ..."

FUEL SYSTEM: The fuel system consists of four aluminum alloy fuel tanks which are located within the center section of the wing. Each engine gets its..."

ENGINE OIL SYSTEM: "An independent oil system is provided for each engine. Lubrication oil is ..."

HYDRAULIC SYSTEM: "Landing gear, brakes, wing flaps, cowl flaps, and automatic pilot controls are actuated by means of hydraulic power generated by..."

FLIGHT CONTROLS:"A conventional yoke, column, and rudder pedals which by means of cables, actuates the flight control systems, and control surfaces, is provided for the pilot and copilot. Aileron, elevator..."

ELECTRICAL: "Two engine-driven generators provide electrical energy to the 24-volt ground return electrical system. Two large ampere-hour storage batteries are ..."

ICE ELIMINATION SYSTEM: Elimination of ice from the leading edge of the airfoil surfaces is accomplished by means of rubber de-ice boots, that are attached to the wings and tail surfaces. The inflation of the de-ice boots is done by engine driven vacuum pumps energizing a pneumatic system to inflate and deflate the de-ice boots periodically.

DC-3 ROLL-OUT

What rolled out of the shop on December 14, 1935 , was much more than Littlewood had put on paper. It was a totally new aircraft, both in design and size. It had a wider and longer fuselage.."

THE FIRST FLIGHT

December 17, 1935, was a sunny but cool afternoon in Santa Monica, California. The holidays were coming and spirits were high in the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was another ordinary day at Clover Field. A big, polished propeller caught the sun's light as it began to turn. Slowly it revolved and then a belch of blue-white smoke appeared. The engine roared into life, and the propeller was lost in its own motion. A second propeller came to life. For a few minutes, the engines roared and then the plane began to move forward. A few engineers and draftsmen watched the shiny airplane taxi out to the runway.

The DST sat at the edge of the runway for about five minutes, its engines running at full throttle. Then it began to move, slowly at first but within 1,000 feet it lifted off, effortlessly. The lives of millions of people throughout the world were about to change.

The cockpit instrument panel was a far cry from the Ford Tri-Motor. In the original DST panel shown here there were 115 flight, navigation electrical and radio control instruments. This cockpit has an almost antiseptic look about it. Photograph courtesy McDonnell Douglas.

In contrast to maiden flights of today's aircraft, covered extensively by the media, this flight, like the maiden flight of the DC-1 went unnoticed by the Press. But the event on a runway in Santa Monica, California, would be one of the |most significant events of the twentieth century.

The DST remained airborne from 3:00 p.m. ...""

Arthur Raymond does not clearly remember the flight either. "When the plane was ready, Carl and the others (Collbohm and Fred Steinman) simply got aboard, and took off. Of course none of us had any idea it marked the start of an era."17

For the next two weeks, Carl Cover and American Airlines test pilots Dan Beard and Elling Velben logged 25 hours 41 minutes of test flying. They put the DST through its paces without any major problems.18 The only major change during the six month test period was an added dorsal fillet, to the fin, to improve directional stability. |

Dan Beard, chief test pilot for American Airlines. Photograph courtesy of American Airlines.

THE DC-3 FAILS THE TAKE-OFF REQUIREMENT

"Engineers wanted to study the effect of engine wear so on February 18, 1936 , they replaced both engines on the prototype. Around this time, TWA asked for a demonstration of the plane's lift-off ability. To everyone's chagrin the airplane took more than 1,000 feet to "un stick." Frye and Robbins were not happy with the airplane's performance, as it would prohibit operations from some ..."

AMERICAN AIRLINES

It is fitting that as the co-creator of the DC-3 that American Airlines also be the airline that used the most machines over the years. They used 114 DC-3s/DSTs and it all started with the acceptance of the first DST on April 29, 1936..."

DC-3 SELLS ITSELF

The DC-3 overwhelmed the industry. It was the first plane that could fly from New York to Chicago non-stop. It made the trip in three hours fifty-five minutes westbound, and returned in ..."

HOT MEALS

One attraction that lured people to the new Douglas planes was the free hot meals. The DST was the first American aircraft to have hot kitchen facilities. No longer did captive passengers have to eat boxed lunches consisting of a cold sandwich, and a piece of fruit. Now flight attendants served hot, full course meals. However, hot meals were not an innovation of Douglas, or American Airlines. As early as 1928, Lufthansa Airlines had served pre-heated meals in-flight. The DC-3 introduced the American flying public to quality in-flight hot meals.

American's "Flagship Mercury" service from Newark, New Jersey, to Los Angeles, California, offered three breakfast and dinner menus served on genuine Syracuse china with Reed and Barton silverware. Wild rice pancakes with blueberry syrup, cheese omelets, or Julienne of Ham omelet were the breakfast choices. For dinner there was Chicken Kiev, Long Island Duckling with Orange sauce, Breast of Chicken Jeanette, Strip Sirloin, or Filet Mignon, a choice of salads, and pastries for dessert. Lunch was on the light side with consommé, fried chicken, peas, and mashed potatoes. Deserts included ice cream, and chocolate sundaes...."

Just a few short months after the introduction of the DC-3, United Air Lines (UAL) saw the potential in the new Douglas. "Pat" Patterson, president of United wanted a DC-3 that was different from his competitors...."

TRANS WORLD AIRLINES

TWA was the third airline to put the new DST in service. They accepted the first eight in April, 1937. On June 1, 1937, they put their "Super Sky liner Sleeper" DSTs outfitted with eight berths up front and nine divan chairs in the rear, in service between New York and Los Angeles. TWA called this flight the "Sun Racer," although it never quite won the race. It chased the sun across the country, leaving New York at 8:30 a.m., and arriving in Los Angeles at 11:30 p.m. the same day.The entire aviation industry praised the DC-3.

This impressive line of 12 TWA DC-3s was photographed at Newark Airport in 1938. The lead ship is NC 17323, TWA #373 c/n 1969. TWA sold this machine to the Union Steel and Wrecking Company on January 16, 1953. Later it went to the Ecuadorian Air Force as FAE 1969 and from there disappeared. The second ship in line is NC17321, c/n 1967 and TWA's #371. This machine went to the Beldex Corporation as N17321 on January 30, 1953.  It then went through at least six owners between 1953 and 1967. At one point in 1979, its registration was canceled.  Today it is still flying although up for sale in Oklahoma City. The phrase "The Lindbergh Line" was carried by TWA while he was their advisor.  When it appeared that Lindbergh seemed to have pro-German feelings TWA quietly dropped the phrase for their aircraft.  Photograph courtesy TWA.

"Substantially less work for the pilots of TWA became a reality with the inauguration of the company's Sky Sleeper planes," said Paul Richter, TWA's vice president of operations. "Douglas has simplified the controls ..."

EASTERN AIRLINES

Eastern Airlines retired the last of its 10-passenger Lockheed' and called its 21-plane fleet of Douglas ships "The Great Silver Fleet." Eastern Airlines president Captain Eddie Rickenbacker made it clear just how the DC-3 affected them. "We can now offer the greatest number of seats in our history. The 21-passenger DC-3s now in operation have increased business in the first eight months of 1938 by 27.5 percent in revenue passengers carried. We now have a total of 15 round trips a day on our New York to Washington route alone." The DC-3 had enabled Eastern Air Lines to expand their daily mileage from 18,918 miles in 1936, to 23,068 in 1937.

To present an up-to-date image, while they were waiting for delivery of the DC-3s, Eastern Airlines advertised its DC-2 equipment as, "The Giant Douglas Airliners," and hoped the public assumed they were flying the new DC-3s. Douglas' name was gaining..."

DC-3 EVOLUTION

In the evolution of the Douglas Commercial transports, the DST occupied only a slightly better position than the DC-1. Like the DC-1, progress quickly replaced its younger sister, the DST.

Contrary to popular belief, the DC-3 day plane seating of 21 was not an accident. An engineer noticed that removing the berths made room for a third row of seats, two on one side of the aisle, and ..."

THE FIRST CRASH

Even the first fatal crash didn't slow the progress of the DC-3. In December 1936, a United Airlines DC-3 crashed in San Francisco Bay, killing all 21 on board. The weather was clear, and the aircraft was on a correct final approach when it suddenly dropped into the water. The investigation ruled out engine, propeller, or structural failure, and found the copilot's microphone had dropped to the floor, jamming the control column. This prevented the crew from pulling up out of the glide.

Notoriety followed some crashes. Movie star Carole Lombard died in a fiery DC-3 crash in 1942, and ..."

ECONOMY AND SAFETY

The accident rate in the early days of the DC-3 was comparatively low. As the DC-3 became more universal, the number of fatal accidents even decreased. In 1936 for example, domestic airlines flew 63,000,000 miles, and had eight fatal accidents; in 1941 there were only four fatal accidents for 133,000,000 miles flown.

Historically, newspapers splash crash news on the front pages and pepper the papers with the tragic aftermath of the crash. On the other hand, the airlines almost never discussed a crash. In 1937, C.R. Smith broke the long-standing taboo and addressed the growing public concern about the safety of air travel. "We know that fear keeps many people from enjoying the advantages of air transportation...."

DC-3 IN FOREIGN MANUFACTURE

To relieve the pressure on the factory, Douglas sold the licenses to manufacture the DC-3 to three countries; Holland, Japan, and Russia. A royalty paid to Douglas for each aircraft manufactured was part of the license agreement. Tony Fokker never manufactured any DC-3s for Holland, but he distributed 63 before the war in Europe ended his operation. Fokker died of pneumonia complicated by meningitis a week before Germany invaded Holland.

DC-3 "SPECHT," is PH-ALS, c/n 1940. It was delivered on January 4, 1937, and crashed five months later, on June 10, 1937, at Palembang Airport, Sumatra. Photograph courtesy KLM.

RUSSIA

Russia built as many as 20,000 Li-2s. Russia has never paid Douglas a cent in license fees. The PS-84 used the 900 hp Shvetsov M-62 engine (developed from the licensed Wright SGR-1820F which powered the DC-2) and the engine configuration gave the nacelles a narrower chord. Even after they upgraded the engines to 1200 hp ASH-62, the nacelle shape remained close to the first models.

Besides receiving civilian DC-3s the Russians also received 707 Lend Lease C-47s. After the war, the survivors went to Aeroflot, the Russian state-owned airline, and other Communist bloc countries, and were in service up through the 1970s. American ferry crews, either from the Air Transport Command or by contracted airline pilots, delivered most of the Russian Lend Lease C-47s to Fairbanks, Alaska. The Russian pilots took over from there and delivered the ships to Russia.

Between the Lend Lease and Russian production, the numbers were so large that the survivors remained in service with some being observed in China, and with Aeroflot in the remote parts of Russia as late as 1980.

Holland's KLM Airline was the principal purchaser of the DC-3s, buying a total of 25. Sweden , Swissair, Czechoslovakia (CSA), France , Poland , Hungary , Australia (ANA), Sabena, and Romania (LARES) purchased the rest.

THE JAPANESE DC-3

When the DC-3 came along, the Japanese immediately recognized its potential, especially since they had such great success with the DC-2. Great Northern Airways and the Far East Fur Trading Company (another Japanese military front company) purchased at least 21 DC-3s from Douglas between 1937 and 1939. The first intended for KLM as PH-ARA, but canceled, arrived in Japan on December 6, 1937. These transports were operated by Dai Nippon Koku and impressed into Imperial service during the war. The surviving transports were scrapped at the end of the war.

This close-up view of a Japanese L2D3 shows the additional side windows aft of the cockpit plus the windows added in the forward access door. Removal of the bulkhead behind the pilots gave better rearward visibility. Photograph courtesy National Archives.

On February 24, 1938, a Japanese manufacturer, Mitsui (a subsidiary of Nakajima Hikoki), purchased the production rights and technical data to the DC-3 for $90,000. Unknown to the United States at the time, the sale was directed behind the scenes by the Imperial Japanese Navy (who was planning on using the type in the invasion of the East Indies). They saw the potential in the DC-3 to serve as a military transport. Mitsui and Showa Hikoki, another manufacturer, made many engineering revisions to take advantage of standard Japanese parts and raw materials. Japan also purchased and imported some machinery from the U.S. to speed up production. The first Japanese-produced DC-3 appeared in September 1939. By May 1941, the fifth DC-3 left the Showa factory, this one using the last Douglas-built fuselage. By July 1941, the factory was producing one DC-3 transport per month, far short of the one airplane per day demanded by the Imperial Japanese Navy.71 Finally by 1942, the production quota was reached.

Although ostensibly purchased for civilian use, the Japanese DC-3s were given a Navy designation L2D2 (L-transport, 2-second Navy type, D2-second Douglas design). L2D1 became the designation for imported DC-3s. The Japanese built eight separate sub types in two basic configurations, straight airline type, and cargo planes.

Japan modified the transport design for easier production. In addition, they replaced the Pratt & Whitney 1,000 hp engines they imported with 1,000 hp Mitsubishi Kinsei 43 radial engines.

This is a captured Showa-built "Tabby" L2D2, Navy Type "0" Transport Model 11 seen in US markings after capture in the South West Pacific area. Note the fuel dump valves visible at the wing trailing edge present on the pre-war Showa-built DC-3s.  Photo courtesy National Archives.

After two years of manufacture, Nakajima had built 71 C-47 type aircraft (designated L2D2 Navy Type 0 Transport Model 11) and switched to manufacturing combat aircraft. Meanwhile, Showa built 416 DC-3 type aircraft, including 75 cargo versions with the "barn door" and reinforced floor (designated L2D2-1). The first Japanese military version with wide cargo doors, remarkably similar to the U.S. C-47, appeared about the same time as the C-47. There are strong suspicions that it was a copy, and not the product of an independent design. The Japanese manufactured 75 cargo versions of the DC-3.

Japan's civilian DC-3 was similar to the U.S. version, but the military version was noticeably different. The main production version of the Japanese DC-3 appeared in four variants; the L2D3 was a personnel transport powered by 1,300-hp Kinsei 51 radials, the L2D3G, also a personnel transport but with Kinsei 53 radials, the L2D3-1 and ..."

THE DC-4

From the beginning, the intention was to make the DC-4, "Skymaster," a different plane. It took advantage of the requirements generated by the success of the DC-3. The public wanted larger and faster equipment, so Douglas invested three million dollars in the DC-4, their first four engine, 42 passenger (30 berth), commercial airliner.

United Airlines had approached Douglas in 1935 to ..."

THE DC-5

Douglas realized that for airlines to be profitable they would need a variety of aircraft sizes and capabilities to service routes of various lengths and passenger densities. The DC-3 would serve the medium range routes and the DC-4, under development, would relieve the DC-3 on the transcontinental routes. To fill the gap in the ..."

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