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The aviation era started 107 years ago when the Wright brothers first took flight. But the era of the airlines for the flying public didn't really take off until 1935 when the venerable Douglas DC-3 first took to the skies.
Seventy-five years ago the DC-3 ushered in the era of utility flight, one that continues to this day. Oh sure, the DC-3 may not top a lot of people's list of their favorite planes. It's not sleek. It's not sexy. And it's not fast. But despite a production run of just 11 years, the DC-3 remains one of the most important airplanes in the history of aviation.
The DC-3 first flew Dec. 17, 1935, 32 years to the day after the Wright brothers' first flight.
The DC-3 was a simple evolutionary advance from the DC-1 and DC-2. A pair of 1,000-horsepower Pratt Whitney engines allowed the plane to carry 21 passengers 1,480 miles at 195 mph. Within a few years airlines had bought more than 400 DC-3s. The government bought more than 10,000 of them as military transports, the C-47.