DC-3/C-47

[muscogeemike]

Just saw a TV segment on the Russians drilling into a lake under the Antarctic ice (good on them) and the aircraft they showed supporting the expedition was either a DC-3/C-47 or, more likely, the version they produced. Either way this design, over 70 years old, is still going strong!

 

[davebender]

The C-47 is still going but not strong. You won't be going strong either when you're 70 years old.

If someone is still using C-47s today it's because he cannot afford something newer such as the C-130 or C-160.

 

[pbfoot]

The C-47 is still going but not strong. You won't be going strong either when you're 70 years old.

If someone is still using C-47s today it's because he cannot afford something newer such as the C-130 or C-160.

OK what are you nattering about a 130 or 160 are completely different types of aircraft , sometimes old does not indicate bad , the C47 is simple ,easy to repair reliable etc etc etc . they have tried to replace it and the replacement 's for the most part are retired

 

[FLYBOYJ]

The C-47 is still going but not strong. You won't be going strong either when you're 70 years old.

If someone is still using C-47s today it's because he cannot afford something newer such as the C-130 or C-160.

100% NOT TRUE!!! I've worked on them and they are still a very viable and cost effective aircraft to operate IF you couldn't afford (or need) to buy a C-130. Most of the 70 year old airframes flying today have gone through some kind of refurbishment during their lifetime making them just as strong (if not stronger) than they were when they left the factory.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The C-47 is still going but not strong.

You sure about that? Go up to Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska and then tell me otherwise.

Also did you know that the first aircraft to make a relief flight into Haiti after after the earthquake was a DC-3? The DC-3 is still used in good numbers and is still going very strong.

 

[davparlr]

You sure about that? Go up to Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska and then tell me otherwise.

Alaska is an amazing place for old civil aircraft. Those cubs with the big wheels are a hoot! Here's a picture of Talkeetna. The treeless area on the right is a landing strip!

 

[Airframes]

As the saying goes - "The only thing to replace a DC3/C47/Dakota is another DC 3...."

 

[evangilder]

They still fly 2 DC-3s a day from Long Beach out to Catalina Island. They go places that turbines can't. When they need to go to the extreme colds, where jet fuel turns to jelly, what do they use? DC-3s and C-46s. You will see quite a few flying in Central and South America as well. They are certainly not tired and are very capable of doing everything they did 70+ years ago.

The Israeli's have that saying "The only replacement for a Dakota is another Dakota" in the aircraft, in Hebrew aboard the aircraft that they finally retired in 2000! These were DC-3s that were built during WWII, flew in WWII, then to France and Belgium before the Israelis bought them. To maintain an active military career for over 50 years and still be flying is impressive, to say the least.

"The only replacement for a Dakota, is another Dakota"

 

[A4K]

The Lisunov Li-2 up the road is still going strong too (that's the Russian version of the DC-3), with no plans to retire her for a good while yet. A number of C-47s are still active back in NZ too...

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

First back to the DC-3 discussion. There are literally hundreds of DC-3s still flying. I have seen numbers between 400 and 1000, but I am not sure the exact number. How is that not going strong? For an aircraft that is 70 years old, that is very impressive and shows how great that aircraft really is.

Alaska is an amazing place for old civil aircraft. Those cubs with the big wheels are a hoot! Here's a picture of Talkeetna. The treeless area on the right is a landing strip!

Yes it absolutely is! How about Lake Hood right next to Ted Stevens Int. in Anchorage. Largest civil float plane airfield in the world.

 

[Geedee]

As the saying goes - "The only thing to replace a DC3/C47/Dakota is another DC 3...."

Too righty mate.

Don't forget the photo thread which gives a brief insight into the birds still flying... http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aircraft-pictures/dc3-c47-photo-thread-17601.html

 

[davparlr]

Yes it absolutely is! How about Lake Hood right next to Ted Stevens Int. in Anchorage. Largest civil float plane airfield in the world.

There's a hotel and restaurant on the south east corner of the lake. Pretty good place to eat and watch the planes come and go. There is also a air museum near the airfield. Several years ago it had a P-40 wing from a plane shot down in the Aleutians. Last time I checked they were working on it. I believe it had bullet holes in it from the fight.

Last time I was at the airport a DC-6/7 landed and taxi in. It was impeccable! What a beauty.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

There's a hotel and restaurant on the south east corner of the lake. Pretty good place to eat and watch the planes come and go. There is also a air museum near the airfield. Several years ago it had a P-40 wing from a plane shot down in the Aleutians. Last time I checked they were working on it. I believe it had bullet holes in it from the fight.

Last time I was at the airport a DC-6/7 landed and taxi in. It was impeccable! What a beauty.

Yeah I visited the museum. I went over to the restoration shop, but they were not working on a P-40. Parts of it were in the museum however.

 

[muscogeemike]

The Lisunov Li-2 up the road is still going strong too (that's the Russian version of the DC-3), with no plans to retire her for a good while yet. A number of C-47s are still active back in NZ too...

As I said since the expedition drilling in the Antarctic is Russian the air craft is probably a Li-2. I was aware the Russians (and the Japanese) produced their versions of the plane - I was just too lazy to look up the nomenclature.

 

[nuuumannn]

Gee, that's a mixed bag of stuff in that museum; looks like an interesting place to go.

The Russians would have been using one of these:

The exact number of Lisunov Li-2s, or PS-84s as they are also designated, is unknown; some have put it around 2,500, but no official figures have ever been released.

Here's what a Kiwi one looks like.

I love the engineering that went into the DC-3; typical solid American thinking. I worked on the Ham Std props off one of the flyers here once; removing the props is an exercise in brute force, as is removing the hub halves once they are on the bench.

 

[fastmongrel]

An engineer friend once told me that the DC3/C47 Dakota airframe theoretically has no fatigue life. As long as proper care is taken and all damaged/worn airframe parts are cut out and properly replaced by someone who knows what they are doing it could fly forever. It would probably end up like Paddys axe though 3 new blades and 2 new handles

I have had several flights in a Dak and absolutely loved every draughty, noisy, bone shaking minute even got to sit in the cockpit jump seat once. If its not the greatest 20 century aircraft then I want to know what is.

 

[oldcrowcv63]

Over the last few years, I worked with a bunch of scientists from the USA, British Antarctic Survey, Australia, Germany, China and Japan to map the subglacial Gamburtsev moutains under the two miles of ice comprising the east Anatarctic Ice Sheet. The mapping was done by a couple of radar equipped DeHavilland DHC-6 Twin Otters. Most of the project involved logistics preparation to allow the planes to stage from field sites deep in the interior flying a large network of tightly meshed grid flight paths to obtain a high resolution map of what lies beneath the ice: an entire mountain range the size and elevation of the alps that has remained completely buried for millions of years. If the russians are using DC-3s in the interior I suspect it probably eases the logistics burden of working so deep in the interior in some substantial way.

If interested here is a link to a video describing the project:

Antarctica's hidden world - Antarctica's Gamburtsev Province Project (AGAP) - British Antarctic Survey

Thing about punching through the ice. It may expose organisms that have survived millions of years on a completely separate evolutionary path to modern biology. May not be a good idea who knows what organisms might be released? I see the zombie apocalypse in the world's future.