Warbird Information Exchange

first if someone could help us explain the differances between all the douglas planes.

i.e.

C-32
C-33
C-39
C-53
C-47
DC-2
DC-3 etc.

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The C-39 was the military designation for the DC-2. The NMUSAF has the 14th one built.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Director

The original design of the DC-3/DST had the entry door on the right side of the fuselage. American and a few other airlines specified right-entry doors, other airlines and the Air Corps decided they wanted them on the left. The Soviets also used the right entry as the pattern for their Li-2.

Scott

daveymac-

If "your museum" is the Canadian Museum of Flight, the more detailed answer to your question, following up on Scott's info, is that your DC-3 was delivered to American Airlines on February 24, 1940 and was flown as "Flagship Texas." (The second Flagship Texas, by the way.) That history, as Scott said, would answer the question as to why your aircraft has a right hand entry door. American president C.R. Smith, who talked Donald Douglas into building the DC-3, wanted his airline's passengers to enter and exit the aircraft without seeing the luggage operations, which took place on the left hand side of the aircraft. Thus the right hand entry doors. Made for a classier entrance/exit for the passengers in C.R.'s mind. The DC-3 at Lonestar in Continental Airlines markings, FYI, also has the right hand door as it is another original American Airlines Flagship, which flew as "Flagship Big Springs." It was delivered just a couple of months after your DC-3, in May of 1940. But I digress.

kevin

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FOUND the elusive DT-built B-24! Woo-hoo!!!

Hey Scott and Kevin,

Thank you for the quick response. I learned something new today. The DC-3 door question is clearly more complicated than I had first thought.

Since there is some military service with our (Canadian Museum of Flight) DC-3, was there ever a cargo door put in it?

Cheers,

David

That's a complicated question with a simple answer- it depends.

A bunch of airlines had their DC-3s conscripted into "military" use, but in many cases that really meant that they were used by the military early in the war effort as transports inside the continental US. There were DC-3s that did undergo cargo conversions, and there were DC-3s on order by the airlines that were conscripted during production and were completed to military specifications and were delivered to the military. At some later point, those interrupted DC-3s were returned to their respective airlines. In American's case, with C.R. Smith operating the military's transport projects, many of the AA DC-3s were left in their civvy colors and were used to transport higher ups around until there were enough military aircraft ready to do the job, at which point they were returned to AA. We've got a couple of photos of Generals getting out of AA DC-3s mid-war with the DC-3s still resplendant in their AA "Flagship" colors.

Some of the answers to one of the earlier questions can be answered by this overly long explaination- depending on how/when the airframe was ordered and/or conscripted, and the extent of the conversion done on the airframe, then the necessary variable designator was applied. (C-47 vs. C-53 vs. etc. etc. etc.) Most of the impressed DC-3s were designated as C-48s or C-49s.

One of the transport buffs can better and more accurately answer the differences between the types, but as far as the civvy answer to your question goes, that should give you some idea. It is possible that your DC-3 served in AA colors, with a right hand passenger entry door, as a "military" aircraft and never had cargo doors. BTW, one of the reasons we have our Flagship in Tulsa is because it has a right hand entry door, and Basler's turbo conversions require a left-hand cargo door. Ours didn't fit their needs, so it was surplussed and sold to us.

kevin

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FOUND the elusive DT-built B-24! Woo-hoo!!!

I didn't get any further information about the what the plans were, or have any opportunity to look at the data plates to confirm the identity. I was just in the area, so I took the chance it was still there to take a look. You can certainly the the curtains in the windows from its last configuration, but I couldn't get high enough to see inside.

Regards,

Andy

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WWII Airborne Demonstration Team
www.WWIIADT.org