I have about six hundred command hours in DC-3's...most are nice flying airplanes, but...the operating cost is rather high, the engines expensive to overhaul, and rudder lock can kill you dead as a doornail, under the most unfavorable circumstances.
In addition, the pilot seats are uncomfortable for long periods.
Noisey up front, quiet in back.

The hangar is the bugaboo..... If there was an old military hangar that I could use, I would have one in a heartbeat... I could easily put a group together to own one...

If they sit outside in the midwest, sooner or later a storm will tear off the tail feathers... The rudder and elevator are pretty fragile in the wind....

Someone spoke about the danger of rudder lock... It says in the book you can cross control the airplane and get an aerodynamic overcenter lock on the rudder induced by the balance tab.... When I was young, dumb, and hauling freight, we tried everything we could to induce a lock and were never successful... The book also says if you lower the nose and accelerate it will resolve the issue. If you don't have altitude, that would be a problem.....

With a 95 ft wingspan, the hangar is tough... In Fargo, where Duggy lives, they have a dolly that they roll the mains on, unlock the tailwheel and they push it sideways thru a 75 ft door. It works really well.

As for operating expenses, figure 100 GPH at 150 knots... Engines are probably up to $60K, but buying an airplane with low time engines, and careful operating procedures, means that it should be a long time before engines are needed... Parts are pretty cheap, and the airframe is very robust... There is an AD on the props that require a recurring inspection beginning at 18 months that can be pushed out to 5 years with operating experience.... There will be maintenance... P&W 1830's do eat up some cylinders..... Never fly very far from home without spare cylinders....

When do we leave?

I showed this to my youngest barrel racing daughter. Her response?

HORSE SHOWS!

150 knots?

Yes, just about the same speed as a Bo on 85 gph more fuel, but look at all the chicks you can bring !

I took Dan Gryders course a couple of summers ago. Got 2.5-3.0 hrs left seat time and about 14 touch and goes. It was a blast . Then off to the FSDO for a DC-3 type rating (SIC) for bragging rights.
I remember Gordon Baxters memory of flying a DC-3, he said" It was like dancing with your fat aunt who could really dance"

Yes, just about the same speed as a Bo on 85 gph more fuel, but look at all the chicks you can bring !

During my college days I had a summer as co-pilot on a DC-3 flying Jerry Lee Lewis. Some wild stories to tell.

You hauled Celebrities... I hauled Blonde Chicks..... I had no trouble finding them either, 75,000 per trip.....

.

56 knots over the fence for a short-field landing in 550'.

Best...
John Deakin

You hauled Celebrities... I hauled Blonde Chicks..... I had no trouble finding them either, 75,000 per trip.....

Doug... I assume you were hauling 75,000 blond chicks like these?

My IA and friend has a story he tells about flying day old chickens from the hatchery in an old clapped out WWII bamboo bomber in the '50s .

IIRC.. he had about 10,000 of them on board for the flight... when the fabric began coming off the fuselage.

Chicks, feathers, entrails, parts, were blowing everywhere around the cabin...
To hear him tell the story.....will almost bring tears to your eyes laughing soooo hard.

Tragic for the little chicks... and could have been bad for him.

Sorry for the thread drift.... back to the DC3...

Leldon