And now for something completely different

Devil Doc said:
I love the DC-3. Never been in one but there's something about the iconic look.
Click to expand...
Some time ago I actually had a chance to fly them for a company that had the contract for delivering USA Today papers. It was very tempting, but a better opportunity came up. The “r” word (responsibility) reared its head as I had one kid and another on the way.
Then, not too many years ago, an offer came to fly a turboprop version in a “foreign location”. Good pay, but too much time from home.
 
UHBlackhawk said:
Some time ago I actually had a chance to fly them for a company that had the contract for delivering USA Today papers. It was very tempting, but a better opportunity came up. The “r” word (responsibility) reared its head as I had one kid and another on the way.
Then, not too many years ago, an offer came to fly a turboprop version in a “foreign location”. Good pay, but too much time from home.
Click to expand...
That's how I envision the DC-3. Landing on a runway carved out in a jungle somewhere.
 
Friends of ours own a small inter-island air delivery service in Hawaii. Pride of their small fleet is a lovingly maintained DC-3, with the rest being custom-rigged Cessna Caravans. It’s ideal for shorter private runways. They bring a lot of the fresh produce and flowers into Honolulu for the high-end hotel and restaurant trade, including the occasional live pig destined for kalua, plus all kinds of miscellaneous cargo. Last time we visited, DH and our pilot friend took it over to Maui, and DH got to “drive” a bit. His tail-dragger skills came right back. Our friends say when they have her spooled up and waiting to come out on one of the main Honolulu runways, as the big liners pass by, they always get oohs and aahs from the airline pilots. Keep an eye out next time you are there.

Edit: I just checked our friends’ website. Sad news, but great back story:

54147CDA-FA89-44AA-9038-DC388E4DCEA0.jpg
 
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Here’s a runway carved into a remote location. It was rated as C-130 capable. The black stuff is a product called Ops dirt which was described to me as being basically glue. It was applied to a bed of clay.
B8E77A49-2AB0-43EE-AD53-AFF0456F11A5.jpeg
 
Regarding the "beyond economical repair" of an old airplane, I have a story that I related as part of my father's eulogy.

My dad's reserve units for much of his time in the Reserves were VR squadrons which were the Navy's transport
aircraft. Much of that time, he flew C-118s as a flight engineer. The C-118 was a four engine propeller aircraft that
was very slow but very reliable and he flew them all over the world.
Sometime in the early 80's the squadron sent a three plane detachment to the Mediterranean for logistics runs.
Somewhere on the way from the US to the Azores (refueling stop), my father's aircraft had what turned out to be
a catastrophic engine failure. On landing in the Azores, the CO decided to leave the stricken aircraft behind with
a small group of sailors led by my father (Chief Aviation Machinasts Mate) which was to salvage what they could
from the aircraft and the plane would then be written off (totaled) in place while the other aircraft proceeded to
fulfil their original mission. The CO's decision was heavily influenced by the squadron's impending switchover to
DC9's along with the anticipated high cost of a replacement engine.
When the remaining aircraft landed back in the Azores two weeks later, they were surprised to see the left behind aircraft
parked on the flightline and ready to go. Over the course of the two weeks, my father had called around to different
airstations and discovered a spare C118 engine that had been declared surplus and got it ferried out to Lajes (Azores)
and got the left behind salvage crew to swap out the engine and overhaul the others as well.
Years later when my parents were visiting the Naval Aviation museum in Pensacola my father was happy to see a C118
on display and when he came up for a closer look and saw the tail number, he discovered that the museum bird was
the airframe that had been "rescued" instead of junked.
.
After I'd related this story as part of the eulogy several of the former shipmates who were in attendance had some
great laughs about the whole event.
 
Wonderf
OldRetSWO said:
Regarding the "beyond economical repair" of an old airplane, I have a story that I related as part of my father's eulogy.

My dad's reserve units for much of his time in the Reserves were VR squadrons which were the Navy's transport
aircraft. Much of that time, he flew C-118s as a flight engineer. The C-118 was a four engine propeller aircraft that
was very slow but very reliable and he flew them all over the world.
Sometime in the early 80's the squadron sent a three plane detachment to the Mediterranean for logistics runs.
Somewhere on the way from the US to the Azores (refueling stop), my father's aircraft had what turned out to be
a catastrophic engine failure. On landing in the Azores, the CO decided to leave the stricken aircraft behind with
a small group of sailors led by my father (Chief Aviation Machinasts Mate) which was to salvage what they could
from the aircraft and the plane would then be written off (totaled) in place while the other aircraft proceeded to
fulfil their original mission. The CO's decision was heavily influenced by the squadron's impending switchover to
DC9's along with the anticipated high cost of a replacement engine.
When the remaining aircraft landed back in the Azores two weeks later, they were surprised to see the left behind aircraft
parked on the flightline and ready to go. Over the course of the two weeks, my father had called around to different
airstations and discovered a spare C118 engine that had been declared surplus and got it ferried out to Lajes (Azores)
and got the left behind salvage crew to swap out the engine and overhaul the others as well.
Years later when my parents were visiting the Naval Aviation museum in Pensacola my father was happy to see a C118
on display and when he came up for a closer look and saw the tail number, he discovered that the museum bird was
the airframe that had been "rescued" instead of junked.
.
After I'd related this story as part of the eulogy several of the former shipmates who were in attendance had some
great laughs about the whole event.
Click to expand...
Wonderful story.
 
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