The Plane that Changed the World
NOVA joins the 50th anniversary celebration of the DC-3—the plane that revolutionized commercial air travel, served gallantly in World War II and is called the most important plane ever built.
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00:00Join us as we celebrate a birthday.
00:14Fifty years ago, an airplane took off in California, and the concept of air travel would never
00:18be the same.
00:19The DC-3, the plane that helped the airlines grow and taught the public to fly, that helped
00:26win World War II and lived on to perform service around the world today.
00:32Come meet that airplane, the DC-3, and the people behind it as we celebrate its golden
00:37anniversary next on NOVA.
00:43Major funding for NOVA is provided by this station and other public television stations
00:48nationwide.
00:51Additional funding was provided by the Johnson & Johnson family of companies, supplying health
00:55care products worldwide.
01:00And Allied Signal, a technology leader in aerospace, electronics, automotive, advanced
01:05materials and chemicals.
01:30Master warning and caution lights is checked.
01:33Emergency exit light, armed, thrust computer, set for takeoff, spoiler handle, it's armed.
01:40The cockpit of a DC-10 with its three-member flight crew.
01:45As the huge 250-ton jet moves toward the runway at Boston's Logan Airport, its crew run through
01:51their usual pre-flight checklist.
01:54They're on and checked.
01:58Dozens of systems are checked and checked again to ensure that this product of modern
02:02technology is ready to fly.
02:05But suddenly, across the field like a phantom out of time, a little twin-propeller DC-3
02:11scurries by.
02:12And in its cockpit, its two-man crew is engaged in its own pre-flight check.
02:16Okay, after start.
02:18First point, gear on, power switch.
02:21On the ships, hydraulics.
02:23Up and up.
02:25Perfect.
02:26Hang it.
02:27It may seem from another age, but still a very real part of the working scene today.
02:32A living reminder that this 50-year-old classic is the grandfather to today's modern behemoths.
02:45As the DC-10 crew maneuvers closer to the runway, they check through their final items.
02:49Takeoff PA, it's on.
02:52Takeoff checklist is complete.
02:54And soon behind it, its little ancestor also falls into position.
02:58Oh, looking good.
03:00Final four to go.
03:02Okay.
03:08This jet-aged giant, carrying nearly 300 passengers, a testament to the modern era of commercial
03:14transport.
03:17But air travel today, so much a part of our lives, it's easy to forget in many ways it
03:25all started only 50 years ago, here in the DC-3.
03:31The plane that made it possible.
03:33The plane that helped the airlines grow and taught the public to fly.
03:40And now, in its 50th anniversary year, through the winds of history, that very plane has
03:45emerged, still playing a bright, active role in our world today.
03:51There's possibly no finer tribute for the DC-3, the plane that changed the world.
04:06From here in Anchorage, Alaska, DC-3s are being used today by a company named Salair
04:11Air Cargo.
04:13Their mission is to fly to remote landing strips and pick up fish for processing back
04:17in the city.
04:19Bill Hartman is a retired United Airlines pilot, currently flying two of Salair's DC-3s.
04:24I flew with United Airlines for 36 years, flying the various airplanes which they had.
04:30I ended up retiring from the 747 airplane.
04:36Captain Hartman originally flew DC-3s with United back in the early 40s.
04:42When you first get back in an airplane like this, out of jets, it does seem a bit old-fashioned.
04:48Once you're in it again, it becomes as rock-solid as it was before, and you like the sound and
04:55the feel, and it feels very comfortable and very, very home-like again.
04:59It's really a home in the air.
05:02And the sounds and feel of this airplane is old-fashioned, but at the same time, it's
05:08never old either.
05:09You never get tired of it.
05:11It makes music as you fly, almost.
05:21Salair's headquarters are found south of here, in the shadows of Mont Rainier in Seattle,
05:25Washington.
05:26It was several years ago when this unusual operation got started.
05:32My point is this.
05:33Somebody has to do the marketing here as well as in Vancouver.
05:37Joe and Edie Salerno retired from long flying careers with Pan Am back in 1977.
05:42Today, they're running their own airline, along with their sons, Bruce and Paul.
05:48But back when they retired, Edie and Joe were off to spend their lives touring America in
05:52their Airstream trailer.
05:53Fine.
05:54All right.
05:55Great.
05:56Okay, it's decided.
05:57What do you think, Dave?
05:58Salair originally started in 1979 when I got a job hauling fish as a co-pilot mechanic
06:05on a DC-3 in Alaska.
06:08I learned a lot about the business that first summer, and then the summer of 1980, I had
06:14graduated from college, and my brother Bruce and I were discussing what we were going to
06:19do with our lives.
06:20And we came to a determination that if anybody at all could make a success of running an
06:25old airplane in cargo operations, both of us being pilots and both of us being mechanics,
06:31we would be able to do it.
06:32Bruce suggested that we purchase a DC-3 and take it to Alaska and haul fish.
06:36We knew that we could not get our folks' approval on something like this, so we waited
06:41until they had gone on an extended vacation, and we searched the West Coast and found in
06:47Oakland our first DC-3 aircraft.
06:50So one day we called home, and the boys said, things are going great.
06:54And we said, well, what's happening?
06:56And they said, well, we bought an airplane today.
07:00And we said, an airplane?
07:02How big?
07:03Thinking maybe it was like a Cessna or something like this.
07:07And they said, well, we bought a DC-3.
07:10So when we returned, they greeted me with, well, Dad, here's the key to the airplane.
07:18I says, you've got to be crazy.
07:20Do you have any spare parts?
07:21They said, no.
07:22Do you have any spare money?
07:24No.
07:25You have a spare engine?
07:26No.
07:27So I walked off and didn't talk to him for three weeks.
07:29He was pretty upset.
07:31We tried to get my dad to come to Alaska initially, our first summer in 1980, but he was not interested
07:37and not receptive to the idea.
07:39However, when we did get back in September and paid off a substantial portion of our
07:44initial debt, he was quite pleased.
07:48I started the work for him full time, sometimes six days, seven days a week.
07:53We did all the maintenance, we did all the repair work, and the boys did all the flying.
07:58And their work paid off.
08:00Today, with 11 DC-3s, they've expanded beyond their summertime Alaska operation to year-round
08:05contracts with several large air freight carriers.
08:09Salair takes cargo from these large jets in Seattle and flies it to smaller airports,
08:14where it makes sense to operate planes which cost only $125,000.
08:18We couldn't stay in business if we were using an airplane that cost a million to a million
08:23and a half dollars.
08:25It's not economical.
08:27They can carry 7,500 pounds of freight, and they can sit at a position and wait for five
08:34or six hours for the return trip, whereas you cannot do it with a large $1 million airplane.
08:41I attribute our success in this field not only to a lot of hard work by ourselves, but
08:47to Donald Douglas, who back in 1930s designed an airplane that just couldn't be beat.
08:54An airplane that today Captain Harkman is flying to the small Alaskan village of Tyonic,
08:59where it will set down on a gravel strip.
09:07With its strong landing gear and its unique abilities to set down on short, rough airstrips
09:15and to carry tremendous loads, it's an ideal way to move fish from remote locations.
09:22As the village fishermen gradually come in with their salmon, the plane can just sit
09:25and wait without costing Sal Air a fortune.
09:29The fish is loaded into boxes, which are put aboard the plane to fly out for processing.
09:35With the plane's great space and ability to carry one-third of its own weight in cargo,
09:39these 3,000 pounds of salmon are soon on their way to Anchorage and then on to the tables
09:43of the world.
09:45Fifty years after its creation, the DC-3 is still on the job, doing what it's always done
09:50best, performing ruggedly and dependably, making money for its operators, indeed putting
09:55them in business and keeping them there.
09:58An impressive feat for an airplane one might expect to find only in a museum.
10:04Deservedly, the DC-3 can be found in a museum as well at the National Air and Space Museum
10:10in Washington, D.C., where Peter Brooks is a visiting scholar in aircraft structure and
10:14design.
10:15The DC-3 certainly was a force that changed the world in its time, and the reason for
10:22that, I think, is that it really made serious commercial air transport possible.
10:28It was the first air vehicle which really offered prospects of making money out of it
10:35commercially while satisfying a public demand for common carriage.
10:41In the early part of this century, engineers were struggling heroically to master the elements
10:46of flight.
10:48A flying machine is a delicate balancing act between competing forces, assembled into a
10:54package that will preferably stay in one piece.
11:04Thrust from the engine pulls the structure forward.
11:09Lift from the wings is supposed to pull the structure upwards.
11:16Drag from the air rushing past stubbornly opposes our intrepid flyer's forward motion.
11:28And finally, there's gravity.
11:32The Wright brothers were the first to solve this equation of forces for powered flight.
11:37On December 17, 1903, their machine stayed up for 12 full seconds.
11:42Progress came quickly.
11:43By 1909, they were demonstrating a twin-engine catapult-launched tube and canvas machine
11:48in sustained flight.
11:51The Wright brothers used the new science of aerodynamics to pull their flyer into the
11:56air.
12:00Every airplane designer has to understand how a particular shape called an airfoil will
12:04generate lift as the air stream is forced to flow more rapidly over the long upper surface.
12:14World War I, airplanes found their first widespread practical use.
12:18The aerobatics of dogfighting became a familiar image, but airplanes were still inefficient
12:23machines.
12:24These biplanes were burdened with 200-pound engines producing only 150 horsepower, so
12:29speeds were slow.
12:31Slow speed means low lift, only enough in this case to carry the plane and two people
12:35aloft.
12:37The struts and wires produced high drag.
12:40Trying to increase speed to get more lift, drag would increase as well.
12:45But in the post-war years, aerodynamic victories were about to change the world.
12:49The Europeans were first to start a system of mail and passenger services, by late 1919
12:55flying daily between London and Paris.
12:58Passenger planes were essential, and four key technical areas were being tackled, structures,
13:03aerodynamics, engines, and instruments.
13:07Development went ahead in those four areas at a pace which resulted in a level of technology
13:12by 1935 which could be incorporated in the DC-3.
13:18In structures, the crucial advance was the step from externally braced biplanes with
13:22their struts and wires to the cantilever or internally braced monoplane.
13:27There was an immediate reduction in weight and in air resistance, or drag.
13:33With drag reduced, for a given engine power, the aircraft could fly faster, generate more
13:38lift and carry a greater load, maybe even a paying load.
13:43And the passengers did pay.
13:45European governments subsidized air travel, but you still had to be rich to fly.
13:51It was an experience far above the reach of the average citizen.
13:57As more Europeans flew, the public became aware of airplane capabilities and limitations.
14:04In the early 20s, pilots could fly only in good weather.
14:07They navigated by visual reference, with just a map to guide them.
14:12Navigational instruments were needed, but not yet available.
14:16Without visible landmarks below, they couldn't fly.
14:19For the European public, this could mean delayed or diverted service.
14:23In America, there was virtually no passenger service.
14:26The post office was first to find a use for planes establishing airmail in 1918, and several
14:32fledgling airlines began to make their living in the 20s from government mail contracts.
14:37Flying in all weather, day and night, with primitive instruments and numerous crashes,
14:41the public was convinced flying was a dangerous business.
14:45But one airmail pilot, Charles Lindbergh, changed the public's perception.
14:50It was 1927.
14:52Flying non-stop across the Atlantic in nearly 24 hours, he fired the public imagination
14:56with thoughts of safe long-distance travel.
15:00And as ideas about flying were changing, so was airplane technology.
15:05That same year, the Lockheed Vega appeared.
15:08With several remarkable features, it used, like Lindbergh's plane, a lightweight air-cooled
15:12radial engine, a high technology of the 20s.
15:16This engine made possible a very much more efficient airplane because the weight of the
15:23airplane was reduced in going from the heavy old engines to these new air-cooled radials.
15:30The power developed was enormously increased, and the reliability and economy of operation
15:37of the engines all were greatly improved.
15:41The first Vegas flew at 135 miles per hour, with considerable drag from the blunt surface
15:46of the radial engine.
15:48But the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, NACA, the forerunner of NASA, created a streamlined
15:53engine cowling that reduced drag to such an extent that speed was immediately increased
15:58by 20 miles per hour.
16:01The gifted designer of the Vega was Jack Northrop, whose innovations would later be used in the
16:06DC-3.
16:08His Vega was an all-wood structure, and it introduced the stress-skin monocoque fuselage,
16:13which was a shell-like body with its strength contained in the outer skin itself, much like an egg.
16:20Stressed skin was a major advance.
16:23It made possible a space-filled interior with much less weight than this cluttered conventional
16:28girder-type construction.
16:34The Vega could hold six passengers, who were offered greater distances and speed by its
16:38improved engine, streamlined design, and lightweight structure.
16:43The technology was coming together, and by the early 30s, public confidence in flying
16:48was on the rise.
16:51Aviation heroes and improvements in airplanes had convinced people that flying could be
16:54reliable, practical, enjoyable, and possibly even safe.
17:00Since the mid-20s, pilots had kept in radio contact with controllers on the ground, but
17:04now there was a revolutionary new flying aid, radio signals that kept a plane on an
17:09exact course.
17:10The signals were emitted from a network of ground stations.
17:17Planes could now fly in heavy cloud conditions and at night, and could be scheduled on a
17:20regular basis.
17:22So by the early 30s, technology had made important strides.
17:26Engines, greater horsepower with lighter weights, structures, greater strength and more room
17:31inside, aerodynamics, streamlining and higher speed, and instruments, all weathered day
17:36and night flying.
17:38And these advances were beginning to reshape public attitudes.
17:42Flying was no longer considered an activity exclusively for madmen or heroes, and the
17:46average person began to entertain the notion as a distant personal possibility.
17:52While more people were flying, the total number was still small.
17:55The Great Depression was on, and air travel was expensive.
17:59Passenger capacity on the planes was tiny, and the airlines eked out a profit only from
18:03the government subsidy they received for the mail they carried.
18:07Then tragedy for the airlines.
18:091931.
18:10A TWA wood and metal Fokker Trimotor flying into severe icing in Kansas crashed.
18:16Among the wreckage, inspectors found signs that the wooden ribs of a wing had been rotting.
18:21One of its passengers was Newt Rockne, the beloved coach who had put his Notre Dame team
18:25on the map.
18:28As the nation mourned his loss, the Civil Aeronautics Authority drafted new regulations
18:32for the inspection of wooden aircraft.
18:34It was a turning point beyond which the commercial aircraft then being used had no future.
18:42Jack Fry was TWA Vice President of Operations, and he faced a dilemma.
18:46He needed something better than the wood structure Fokker, and his competitor United Airlines
18:50was proudly introducing the all-metal Boeing 247.
18:55It was a stressed-skin monoplane with two cowled engines, faster than the Fokker by
18:5970%.
19:00Although the 247 represented the first truly modern plane of its era, the design contained
19:05shortcomings.
19:06It had only ten seats, and the cabin was obstructed by two wing spars across the aisle.
19:12In any case, the initial production of the Boeing was earmarked for United Airlines,
19:16Jack Fry's rival, so he could not obtain them.
19:20The best he had available was the much slower all-metal Ford Trimotor.
19:24TWA did the best it could to convince the public of the Ford's acceptability.
19:34T.A.T. was the forerunner company to TWA, and it ran a combined transcontinental air-rail
19:40service, by rail at night when things were dark and dangerous, and by air in the day
19:46when planes were fit to fly.
19:49The big Trimotor all-metal plane is ready and waiting, equipped like a Pullman car.
19:55Its roomy cabin is well-lighted and heated in wintertime.
19:58Seated in our comfortable chairs, we are all set now to see America best.
20:04The field rushes by.
20:06Then, all is flowing smoothly.
20:10But any early traveler on these flights might recall some truer details.
20:15Tommy Tomlinson was a naval test pilot who came to work as technical assistant to Jack Fry at TWA.
20:21He had flown hundreds of hours in the Ford Trimotors.
20:25Flying in the old Fords and Fokkers was really almost an ordeal from a passenger standpoint.
20:31The planes were extremely noisy.
20:36There was vibration.
20:38The ventilation heating during cold weather was spasmodic and not too well controlled.
20:47For a transcontinental flight, it was almost deafening.
20:53That is, a person would make a flight, particularly in the old all-metal Ford, which shivered,
20:58shook, rattled, and the noise of the engines, you'd be almost deaf for a couple days after
21:04you arrived at your destination.
21:06Plane from New York and the east arriving 420 on time.
21:21I always was surprised that people would pay the money to ride in the things.
21:25And with the Depression on, not that many people were paying the money to fly in them.
21:30We were lucky to have 6 or 7 passengers out of the possible 12.
21:35And usually out of the 6 or 7, half of them would be deadheads.
21:41They would be for publicity purposes or friends of somebody or other.
21:45The airlines faced bankruptcy.
21:48They had to have a completely new airplane that would carry more passengers,
21:57that would carry them faster with dependability and the potential of making money.
22:05Jack Fry was desperate for something better than the Fords.
22:09And with the Boeing 247 unavailable, he wrote a letter to 5 airplane manufacturers of the time,
22:14a letter that would change aviation history.
22:17He requested them to design a plane which would surpass the Boeing
22:20and would take fullest advantage of the best technology of the day.
22:25In Santa Monica, Donald W. Douglas was one of the recipients of Jack Fry's letter.
22:30Douglas was one of the better known aviation designers at the time
22:33and his small company had primarily been manufacturing military planes.
22:37Arthur Raymond was assistant chief engineer in the shop in those days,
22:41soon to become one of the principal designers of the DC 1, 2 and 3 series.
22:46When we received the letter from Jack Fry, Doug called in the design team.
22:52And within, I would say, a week, we had the three-view drawing made,
22:59we had performance estimates made, we knew about cost and delivery,
23:04and we were ready to submit the proposal.
23:08The team's proposal was for a bimotor, not the trimotor Fry had asked for.
23:13It was an important departure from the original request.
23:16We disliked the idea of a trimotor so much that we never even considered it.
23:21The nose engine in the trimotors, in my opinion, was a curse.
23:29It introduced into the structure of the fuselage and the passenger cabin
23:39the unpleasantness of vibration, noise, odor and the hazard of fire.
23:49Fry had requested three engines for a reason.
23:52At the time, pilots were used to flying trimotors, which gave them a sense of security.
23:56If one engine failed in flight at high altitude,
23:59there were still two others to get them down safely.
24:04Charles Lindbergh was a technical advisor to TWA.
24:07Shown here inspecting an engine factory,
24:09he was especially concerned with issues of engine reliability.
24:13For the new design, he insisted on an airplane that could meet the strict test
24:17of being able to cross the Rockies, the highest part of TWA's route,
24:21at a safe altitude with one engine dead.
24:26It was a challenge for the Douglas team who proposed a large plane with only two engines.
24:31But aware of the increases in engine horsepower,
24:34the advances in streamlining and aerodynamics,
24:36the invention of instrument aids,
24:38they had faith in their design,
24:40which rapidly brought together the best advances of the past decade.
24:43Once we had the preliminary design done,
24:47I was chosen as assistant chief engineer
24:53to go east to New York and confer with TWA,
24:57together with Harry Wetzel,
24:59who was our executive vice president and business manager.
25:03We decided, because there had been quite a number of airline accidents about that time,
25:10and because we really wanted to get there, to go by train.
25:20My discussions were mainly with Lindbergh,
25:24who, in general, seemed to be favorably inclined,
25:28except that he was worried about the single-engine flight problem.
25:32To tell the truth, I was too.
25:35But, in spite of my skepticism, I was optimistic.
25:41And we were all optimistic,
25:44because, by golly, we wanted to do it.
25:48And within a few months, they were doing it.
25:51A contract was signed and the Douglas Commercial 1, or the DC-1, was underway.
25:56But throughout construction, the team worried
25:58whether the recently available more powerful engines
26:01could really do the job to lift this large 12-passenger plane
26:04and meet Lindbergh's one-engine out test.
26:07Two engines from different manufacturers were being considered for the contract.
26:11The Wright Company Cyclone, 710 horsepower,
26:14in testing was experiencing cylinder cooling problems,
26:17and the Pratt & Whitney Hornet, 700 horsepower,
26:20which was having trouble with oil consumption.
26:23These engines represented the latest improvements in power plant technology,
26:27the most advanced horsepower of their day.
26:29After intense testing, the contract went to the Wright Company,
26:32which, at the last moment, redesigned the cylinders,
26:34although, in later years, Pratt & Whitney won back the business.
26:38Meanwhile, at the other end of Los Angeles,
26:40Bailey Oswald was involved with developments taking place at Caltech.
26:45In Pasadena, a new 200-mile-per-hour wind tunnel
26:48was being used in the developing science of aerodynamics.
26:52A surprisingly simple device, still in use today,
26:55it offered a more direct approach to design
26:57than the theoretical charts and graphs which had been used previously.
27:02Bailey Oswald was a recent graduate here
27:04when he was hired by Arthur Raymond
27:06to run the original tests on the DC-1, 2, and 3 series.
27:11Starting with the DC-1,
27:13I think that we began to bring aerodynamics out into the open
27:18and make it an all-inclusive, important asset to the airplane.
27:24And it happened, in fact, that I came in 1932
27:28and was a single aerodynamicist in the company at that time.
27:33And as time went on,
27:36the aerodynamics section was built up to,
27:38during the wartime, I believe as many as 200 people.
27:44The DC-1, 2, and 3 were each aerodynamically tested in the same way.
27:49A model was hung upside down in the tunnel
27:51to make it easier for the aerodynamicists to make their measurements.
27:55A fan in the tunnel generates wind,
27:57and as air flows over the wings,
27:59its aerodynamic lift will be in a downward direction
28:01towards the tunnel floor.
28:04As it flies, it pulls down on the wires supporting it.
28:08These wires extend through the tunnel ceiling
28:10into a balance room above,
28:12where they are attached to a series of scales.
28:15Each scale measures a different force on the model,
28:18for example, lift, drag, thrust.
28:22And once the model stabilizes in the wind,
28:24the aerodynamicist collects the data
28:26in the form of a numerical readout on each scale,
28:29ultimately translating those readouts
28:31into finely tuned graphs and equations,
28:33which will modify design.
28:36As a result of these kind of wind tunnel tests,
28:39we learned many things
28:41that we took advantage of during the design.
28:44In order to make it possible for this airplane to fly well,
28:47we used a very good shaping on the fuselage,
28:52trimming out the fine end at the rear,
28:55an aft-sloping streamlined windshield,
28:59monoplane wing,
29:02streamlined tail surfaces, cantilever type,
29:06NACA low-drag cowling on the engine,
29:10and retracted landing gear.
29:13These streamlining features were refined in the wind tunnel,
29:16and the original test reports shown here
29:18are from the early 30s.
29:20From that time on, no plane would be designed
29:22without aerodynamic wind tunnel testing.
29:27We didn't depend upon calculations alone
29:30because the design parameters
29:33weren't well established at that time.
29:37But we did make physical tests of practically everything.
29:42Weights were applied to determine
29:44the strength of various parts.
29:47The wing and body proved to be especially tough,
29:49a hallmark of the DC-1, 2, and 3 series.
29:53The wing was an idea borrowed from Jack Northrop,
29:56who had designed the Vega.
29:58Its all-metal, multicellular structure
30:00placed individual sections together in a grid-like fashion,
30:03building a single unit stronger than its parts.
30:06It was lightweight, but extremely strong.
30:10A stressed-skin fuselage design was used,
30:13just as in Northrop's wooden Vega.
30:15But now the construction was done entirely
30:17with new aluminum alloys,
30:19which combined lightweight and great strength.
30:23In July of 1933, Jack Fry got what he wanted
30:26ten months after the contract was signed.
30:28There was quite a group of us there,
30:31and when that airplane came out, it just amazed us,
30:35and we were delighted and figured
30:38that we really had something for the future.
30:42With Tommy Tomlinson aboard as co-pilot,
30:44the plane soon successfully performed
30:46the one-engine out test over the Rockies.
30:49As shown in this dramatic DC-2 test,
30:51the plane flew safely with one of its engines
30:53deliberately shut down,
30:55and the implications for older airplane designs became clear.
31:00With the successful completion
31:02of the Winslow to Albuquerque test,
31:05the tri-motor was a dead duck for the immediate future.
31:12The DC-1 was a prototype.
31:14Only one was ever built.
31:16It assembled the most advanced innovations of its time
31:18into a single design,
31:20and pointed the way to ever-larger commercial transports,
31:23which held the hopes of profits and growth
31:25for the airline industry.
31:27I think any really qualified company
31:33would have come up with much the same design.
31:38Although, of course, I'm sure we did it better than anybody else.
31:43As TWA readied to buy production models,
31:46Donald Douglas suggested a slight design modification to the DC-1.
31:51The idea was to stretch the fuselage by almost two feet
31:54so that two more seats could be added,
31:56bringing the carrying capacity to 14 passengers
31:59and giving the airline a chance to make more money.
32:02This stretched production model of the DC-1
32:04was designated the DC-2.
32:08TWA bought 25 of them,
32:10and they quickly became popular with passengers
32:12for comfort and safety.
32:15Amenities included cushioned adjustable seats,
32:18good ventilation, dependable steam heat,
32:21enough soundproofing for normal conversation,
32:24and enough space to carry stewardesses
32:26and provide simple cold meals.
32:30With speeds up to 175 miles per hour,
32:33passengers could now cross the country in 18 hours
32:35with only three stops for fuel.
32:38The airlines lined up to buy them,
32:40and the public saw they were a good ship to fly in.
32:43On the good ship, lollipop,
32:46it's a sweet trip to a candy shop
32:50where bonbons play
32:53on the sunny beach of Peppermint Bay.
32:57Hollywood wasted no time in discovering the DC-2,
33:00but the plane's real stardom was secured
33:02in the McRobertson Trophy Race from England to Australia.
33:05On October 20, 1934,
33:08one of KLM's recently purchased DC-2s
33:10took off on the 11,000-mile course,
33:13flying against sleek racing planes
33:15and also the Boeing 247.
33:17The DC-2 flew the regular KLM scheduled route,
33:201,000 miles further than the course,
33:22and carried several paying passengers.
33:26Three days, 18 hours later, it landed in Melbourne,
33:29beating the Boeing and coming in second
33:31only to a specially built Comet Racer.
33:34100,000 people are in the streets to cheer the aviators
33:37whose feats have thrilled the world.
33:39The aviators were heroes, but the true hero was the plane.
33:42With its worldwide reputation made,
33:44airlines everywhere began to buy them.
33:48More people than ever now travel by air,
33:51taking advantage of the DC-2's modern speed and comfort.
33:55But as a 14-passenger carrier,
33:57it still wasn't holding enough people per trip
34:00to make profits without the continuing airmail subsidies.
34:03Something bigger yet was needed,
34:05and the search for the DC-3 was on.
34:08There were three passenger carriers
34:10flying the long transcontinental routes in the early 30s,
34:13and American Airlines was one of them.
34:16Using Curtis Condor fabric-covered biplanes,
34:19in 1933, American pioneered a sleeper service across the U.S.
34:23to gain an edge on competition by offering greater comfort.
34:27The Condors had the room to accommodate
34:2914 Pullman-style berths,
34:31but they were slow and old-fashioned.
34:33At the time of the DC-2,
34:35C.R. Smith, shown here with Eleanor Roosevelt,
34:37had just begun his 30-year command
34:39as president of American Airlines.
34:41Together with his chief engineer, Bill Littlewood,
34:44he wanted to get rid of the Condors
34:47the late Bill Littlewood recalls.
34:49C.R. Smith and I went to Donald Douglas
34:52and had conversations concerning
34:54what might be done to the DC-2
34:56to make it into the kind of an airplane we were seeking.
34:59What they envisioned was a larger plane
35:02that would be a modern 14-passenger sleeper
35:04and, at the same time, could give them the option
35:07to carry as many as 21 passengers
35:09in a daytime configuration.
35:11This would be accomplished
35:13by widening the DC-2 fuselage 26 inches
35:16to accommodate another row of seats
35:18and increasing the wingspan by 10 feet
35:20to give the greater lift needed
35:22for the plane's additional size and weight.
35:25At the time, Donald Douglas was heavily involved
35:27with DC-2 production.
35:29His initial reaction to American's plan
35:31was not favorable.
35:33Doug was not too enthusiastic
35:36about the idea of introducing a new model
35:39when our shop was full of orders for DC-2s.
35:43But C.R. convinced him.
35:48We told Douglas we'd take the first 20 airplanes
35:51he developed and pay for them.
35:53And that day was very influential
35:56because 20 was a bigger order in those days.
35:5920 was a bigger order in those days
36:01than 200 would be now.
36:04Building began, and C.R. Smith collaborated closely
36:08with the Douglas Design Department,
36:10where Arthur Raymond was now in charge
36:12as chief engineer.
36:14As the plane took shape,
36:16the designers once again incorporated
36:18the great sturdiness of the monocoque fuselage
36:21with now even lighter-weight aluminum alloys
36:23employed in its all-metal stressed skin,
36:29the great strength of the multicellular wing,
36:34and the wind tunnel-tested streamlined surfaces
36:36to reduce drag and increase speed.
36:39Finally, on December 17, 1935,
36:42the 32nd anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight,
36:45C.R. Smith got what he and the world's airlines
36:48had been hoping for.
36:50The first DC-3, the Douglas sleeper transport version,
36:53was quietly test flown over the Santa Monica factory.
36:57In structure and design,
36:59it had the basic excellence of the DC-1 and the DC-2,
37:04but it also improved on them.
37:06It became the crown jewel of the series.
37:11A stronger landing gear would give it
37:13more rugged performance on rough airstrips.
37:16These newly available 1,000-horsepower engines
37:19made it feasible to build a plane
37:21whose increased size and weight
37:23was a clear impossibility just two years before.
37:26The new engines, along with the additional 10-foot wingspan,
37:29combined to lift this jumbo wide body of its time
37:32with the necessary speed and power
37:34to transport people in a new world of comfort and safety,
37:38the likes of which had never before
37:40been experienced in aviation.
37:42Since passenger planes were still not pressurized,
37:45flight was limited to 10,000 or 12,000 feet,
37:48where turbulence could still be considerable.
37:51As a result, in its design,
37:53C.R. Smith had emphasized all aspects of comfort
37:56in order to attract passengers.
37:58In the daytime version, with its 21 adjustable seats,
38:01its sound insulation,
38:03its decent steam heating and ventilation,
38:05its light colors, its tall ceiling,
38:08and in the nighttime sleeper version with its 14 berths,
38:12comfort was everything.
38:15Your ship flies steadily, smoothly
38:18through the quiet of the night.
38:20Within the American SkySleeper,
38:22you have a soft, luxurious berth.
38:24It may be a sweltering night for earth-swellers
38:27when people sit up all night long
38:29because they cannot sleep.
38:31But up here, you sleep under blankets.
38:34Stewardesses became a routine part of the flying scene
38:37to tuck people in physically as well as psychologically.
38:41Up here in the SkySleeper, you're cozy and warm.
38:44You breathe air swept clean by the winds of the world
38:47while the purring motors lull you to sleep.
38:51See?
38:53Of all people, now, how did you get that?
38:55Isn't that beautiful?
38:57It brings it all back.
38:59This is service that was used on the DC-3 sleeper.
39:03See this?
39:05This is that body of the airplane.
39:09You must remember that.
39:11Yes, but I haven't seen it for so many years.
39:15A reunion of three of the first American Airlines stewardesses.
39:19We served plenty to them, but it wasn't over.
39:22And they always got free cigarettes.
39:24Phoebe King got her wings from C.R. Smith in the class of 39,
39:28and the days when flying was still something new and special.
39:32On Sunday nights when I took my flight out of Chicago,
39:36they would have many people behind the fence,
39:40and we had to check in over at the hangar
39:43and walk across the airport to our plane.
39:47And as we went by the fence,
39:49why, they would hand us their autograph books.
39:52And they'd ask us questions, you know,
39:54how long does it take to get to Newark,
39:57and all this sort of thing.
40:01Lily and Fetty, like her colleagues,
40:03had originally trained as a nurse,
40:05a requirement for all stewardesses at the time.
40:08They wanted capable, trained, disciplined people on the airplane,
40:14so that any of the passengers, if it was their first flight,
40:18if it was a rough flight, or if they were nervous,
40:23we were capable of instilling confidence in them.
40:27Air sick?
40:29Oh, we don't mention that.
40:31Marge Markley began her service on the DC-2s
40:34and was there when the DC-3s arrived.
40:36There were 21 passengers on the plane if it was full,
40:40and most of them were business people
40:43that flew maybe five or six times a month,
40:47and you really got to know them,
40:50so it was a very personal-type relationship there.
40:54Where are we now, Miss Kelly?
40:56We're flying over Gailbury, Michigan.
40:59We left Chicago here about an hour ago,
41:02and flew right along here.
41:04And now if you look out the window,
41:06you can begin to see Detroit below us.
41:08Oh, very nice.
41:10Yep, there she is.
41:12With the galley installed on the DC-3s,
41:15the hot meals were now available for the first time
41:17to the flying public.
41:19Fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy,
41:23and peas, and maybe a little salad.
41:26That was standard fare.
41:28It would be lunch or dinner.
41:34The DC-3 itself was just a gorgeous plane,
41:37and of course we felt that the future was in flying.
41:41I think we all felt that,
41:43because it seemed so luxurious to us,
41:45that we had food and drink and all those things on it,
41:50meaning coffee and soup and these things for the passengers,
41:54and we felt so secure and safe in this DC-3.
41:59The plane's comforts made it a great popular success,
42:02but it also became known for its modern instruments and safety.
42:06Captain, do you have time to explain the radio to me, Mrs. Cole?
42:09Really?
42:11We fly the highways of the air, Mrs. Cole,
42:13the same as you fly the highways underground.
42:16Ours is a highway of sound.
42:19Oh, yes.
42:20About two hours ago, we left Chicago here.
42:24We're headed for New York here.
42:27The Civil Aeronautics Authority maintains radio range stations
42:31along the route at frequent intervals,
42:33broadcasting our constant highway of sound,
42:36which we call the beam.
42:38You either heard an A,
42:41dit-da, dit-da, if you were one side of the beam.
42:45If you were on the other side of the beam,
42:47you got a da, dit, da, dit.
42:50When you were right down the groove, as we used to say,
42:53you heard this constant hum,
42:55mm,
42:59and listening to that hour after hour
43:01became very, very, very tedious.
43:04I had no idea. Thank you so much.
43:06Yeah, thanks a lot.
43:07That's quite all right. The pleasure's mine.
43:09I hope to have you as passengers again soon.
43:12Seat 9.
43:14I flew the DC-3 as long as any one pilot,
43:19many hundreds of hours,
43:21and I considered it a nice airplane to fly.
43:26It was fully controllable in all respects,
43:30had excellent stability,
43:33perfect response to the controls,
43:36and it was just simply no other airplane
43:40that competed with it.
43:43Well, in general, I'd say the DC-3 was
43:47a design you wouldn't want to change anything in.
43:51It was exactly what you wanted.
43:54The designers loved it,
43:56pilots loved it,
43:58passengers loved it,
44:00and especially the airlines loved it.
44:03Well, I'm very proud of the DC-3
44:05because it lived up to the best of our expectations
44:08and exceeded them.
44:10For the first time, there was an airplane
44:13with which the airlines could make money
44:16without depending upon subsidy.
44:20Passenger travel alone.
44:23And this is what we'd all been waiting for.
44:26By 1939, over 400 had been built.
44:29It became the standard of the industry,
44:32carrying 80% of domestic passenger traffic
44:35and huge numbers elsewhere in the world.
44:38While its success worked magic for the airlines,
44:41there was truly nothing magic about its design.
44:44It was just the shrewd combination
44:46of the best available technology
44:48at the right time, in the right size of vehicle,
44:51with the right performance for the operators of the period.
44:54And, too, there would soon be so many of them.
44:57With America's entrance in the war,
44:59in California, the Douglas factory was hard at work
45:02with growing orders for military air transports.
45:05The DC-3 had so impressed the U.S. Army Air Corps,
45:08they decided to use it as a basic troop and cargo carrier.
45:12With only slight modifications,
45:14a larger cargo door, beefed-up floors,
45:16a stronger landing gear,
45:18the DC-3 went into service as the C-47 in the Army
45:21or the R-4D in the Navy and Marine Corps.
45:24By production, they were manufactured
45:26at the rate of two per hour,
45:28and by war's end, an astounding 10,174 of them were built,
45:32opening a new chapter in the way
45:34troops and material could be moved during combat.
45:38June 6, 1944, D-Day.
45:40The greatest fleet of DC-3s ever assembled,
45:43making possible the largest air invasion force in history.
45:4720,000 paratroops and supplies
45:49carried across the Channel in the first 50 hours.
45:52Known variously as Sky Troopers, Dakotas, Sky Trains,
45:551,200 of them flying four abreast
45:58in a column 200 miles long.
46:00And their solid presence was felt around the world.
46:03The island-hopping campaign in the Pacific
46:05would never have been possible without it.
46:07The workhorse of the air,
46:09whose nicknames Gooney Bird, The Doug, Old Fatso,
46:12seemed never to end, moved vehicles, weapons, supplies.
46:15It rescued the wounded, and for thousands of G.I.s,
46:18it was the first aircraft they'd ever flown in.
46:21With its special talent to take off and land
46:23on short, rugged airstrips,
46:25the plane was tested to its limits and beyond.
46:29The Japanese were coming in at the south end of the city,
46:32and the airport was at the north end.
46:34And we weren't able to get gas.
46:36The gasoline people had left.
46:38But while we were there, quite a few Burmese came aboard.
46:42When we arrived at Calcutta,
46:44we found that our total complement in the cabin was 72,
46:48most of them, of course, small, many babies,
46:50and when they opened the baggage compartment,
46:52they found four more in there.
46:54Seventy-six people on a DC-3.
46:56That's a pretty good load.
46:58No wonder that by the war's end,
47:00Eisenhower would credit the DC-3
47:03as being one of the pieces of equipment
47:05most responsible for Allied victory in World War II.
47:12In the years following 1945,
47:14the many thousands of war-surplus DC-3s
47:17were converted in great number
47:19from military to commercial passenger use.
47:21But it wasn't long before the DC-3s
47:23were soon passed over by the airlines,
47:25which saw greater profits in newer designs,
47:28designs which grew out of the DC-3,
47:30grew out of its all-metal, streamlined,
47:32large-capacity safety and comfort legacy.
47:37It was an era of pressurized planes
47:39which could comfortably fly above the weather,
47:41could fly faster with higher-powered engines,
47:44and could carry more people.
47:46With the advent of jets in the 60s,
47:48it seemed certain the DC-3 would die,
47:50while only its traditions continued.
47:53The last DC-3 was built in 1946,
47:56yet strangely today, the plane has lived on
47:58to find a niche for itself in the world.
48:01For someone with no ability to fix up an old one,
48:03like the Salernos did with their cargo operation,
48:06it's possible to buy virtually new ones
48:08in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
48:10DC-3s are for sale at Bassler Flight Service.
48:16Warren Bassler's company is refurbishing planes
48:18to meet individual needs,
48:20whether for cargo or passenger use.
48:22The aircraft are restored almost to mint condition,
48:25and he's currently doing his 59th DC-3.
48:29Strange as it may seem, the demand today
48:32is greater than it was when we started
48:34in our business 30 years ago.
48:36And the airplane is still one of the best airplanes
48:40for hauling freight and even hauling people.
48:43It does more for what it costs you to operate
48:46than any other airplane you can buy today.
48:50Bassler scours the world for DC-3s,
48:53most recently buying seven from the French Navy
48:55in New Caledonia.
48:57We try to find the best airframes that are available,
49:01and if you have a clean airframe to start with,
49:03the rest is easy.
49:05Any signs of corrosion are replaced by new sections,
49:08individually cut and fitted,
49:10preserving the immense strength of the plane
49:12as it was originally designed.
49:14In its history, there has never been
49:16a structural failure of a DC-3.
49:18Interiors are made over completely,
49:21down to the last details of new seats,
49:23insulation, paneling, reinforced floors.
49:27Modern instruments are added,
49:29bringing the plane up to date
49:31with the latest flying and navigational aids.
49:34Finally, with reconditioned engines
49:36installed and tested,
49:38an almost new DC-3 becomes available
49:40to any who want to enter the business.
49:42The reason that we stay in the DC-3 business
49:45is because of the cost,
49:47being $175,000 to $300,000 for a freighter
49:51ready to go for someone starting in the freight business
49:54versus a couple million for anything else
49:56that would do the job for them.
49:59It's 5 a.m. in Hyannis, Massachusetts,
50:02and Provincetown Boston Airlines'
50:04fleet of four different types of airplanes
50:06sits out in the Cape Cod grass
50:08with a flock of birds awaiting its mid-morning activity.
50:13Passengers leaving Hyannis for Boston or Provincetown,
50:16Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket,
50:18may be surprised to find they're going to be flying
50:20in an airplane designed 50 years ago.
50:24But the DC-3s are an essential part of PBA's fleet,
50:27and it was no matter of chance
50:29that the company's founder, John Van Arsdale,
50:31began buying them back in 1968.
50:35I never bought an airplane
50:37in the history of my operation of the company
50:39because I liked it.
50:41I bought an airplane because I thought it could make money.
50:43The DC-3 fulfills that objective.
50:46We didn't pay a great deal of money for them,
50:48and therefore we could afford to park them
50:51and operate them whenever they were needed.
50:55Today, PBA flies 12 DC-3s
50:58along with three other types of aircraft,
51:00and scheduling is done according to demand.
51:02The right-size plane is dispatched
51:04for the right-size load.
51:06The dispatcher's pet names for the planes
51:09help relieve the frantic pace of scheduling.
51:11Due to the overload, we'll use a DC-3 to Boston.
51:14We'll give them dragon wagon service.
51:17After we bought a DC-3 for about $20,000,
51:20we might put $50,000 or $100,000 into it,
51:23but we had a great airplane
51:25for $120,000 or $150,000 completely.
51:27We did them all over,
51:29and when it flew, it made money.
51:32Chief Pilot Anthony Freitas is performing
51:34a routine inspection of this plane
51:36before going aloft,
51:37examining the entire exterior
51:39for any possible surface irregularities.
51:42It's a standard procedure for any plane,
51:44but this plane is special.
51:4636 PV here is the highest-time DC-3 in the world.
51:49It's the highest-time airliner in the world.
51:51It's got over 88,000 hours on it right now.
51:54It passed the one that's hanging in the Smithsonian
51:56some time ago.
51:58Every time it goes out, it sets a new record.
52:01It's sort of the queen of the fleet to us.
52:04It's our pride and joy.
52:06For PVA, it's really the perfect airplane for our operation.
52:09We generally fly shorter legs than the major airlines do,
52:12so the fact that the airplane's half the speed or less
52:15of a modern jet doesn't really bother us.
52:17The trip length is still only going to be a half an hour.
52:20We don't suffer at all there.
52:22And the airplane gives us the ability
52:24to take 30 people at a whack out of a very small field
52:27that any other airplane just wouldn't allow us to do.
52:32In a modern jet, you cruise anywhere
52:34from something in the area of 30,000 feet.
52:37In a DC-3, we're generally cruising
52:39at about a tenth of that altitude,
52:41so you're a lot closer to the ground.
52:42There's a lot more scenery down there.
52:44Generally, it's a lot more enjoyable
52:45to fly down at that altitude.
52:47You fly from here to Boston,
52:49and if you fly over a football field,
52:51you've got time to see a play beyond the fact
52:53that it's a football field that might be down there
52:55from 30,000 feet.
52:57You don't just sit in a DC-3 and let things happen
53:00and for sheer activity in the cockpit,
53:03I guess there is quite a bit more
53:04than there would be in a 727 or something of that nature.
53:07The gear is a good example.
53:09727, if you want to put the gear down,
53:11you throw one lever down.
53:13And a DC-3, you have to throw one hydraulic lever down,
53:16wait for the pressure to build up in the gauges,
53:19and then throw a lock latch in place,
53:21return the hydraulic lever to the center position,
53:23and then for the heck of it,
53:24you stick your head out the window
53:25and make sure it's stuck down.
53:26You try that in a 727, you lose your head.
53:31The plane is flown at 155 miles per hour,
53:35and with the Boston runway in view,
53:37speed is cut to 95,
53:39enabling it to land in one-tenth the space
53:41needed for a modern jet.
53:44Well, the airplane was built to fly at a slower speed.
53:47As a result, it's always being affected by the environment,
53:49by the winds that are on the airport itself
53:51or by a jet blast from a passing airplane or something,
53:55whereas a modern airplane is built
53:57by a jet blast from a passing airplane or something,
53:59whereas a modern airplane, a 727,
54:01once it's on the ground, essentially becomes a truck.
54:03You start steering it.
54:04This airplane, you've got to fly continually
54:06all the way to the gate and shut down the engines
54:08and wait for them to lock the controls
54:10before you give it up as an airplane.
54:13There is no airplane today that will replace it
54:15for what we use it for.
54:16On a short haul out of a short airport,
54:18there's nothing that even comes close.
54:20And any airplane that can do what this thing does
54:22and did for the airlines and for us
54:24is just, there's no question, it's a superior aircraft.
54:33After 50 years, more than 1,000 DC-3s
54:37are still flying the skies of the world.
54:47DC-3 has been called a very well-loved airplane.
54:53I think that comes about through the fact
54:55that there were so many of them,
54:57and so many people have experienced
55:02travel in the DC-3,
55:05some of it under rather arduous and dangerous conditions,
55:11and come through unscathed.
55:14So there are a lot of stories that accumulate
55:18about the good old DC-3, the Goonie Bird, and so forth,
55:25with a feeling of affection.
55:28Also, you kind of feel affection for somebody
55:31that's as old as a DC-3, I hope.
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