Reflections on the DC-3 (smokejumpers): part 2 of 2

Among the many types of service (see my May 6th article) that you and your military sisters have done is that of a smokejumper aircraft aka a jump ship. I believe that your first service as a jump ship was around the time that World War II ended. The last of your kind to serve as a jump ship in the United States was retired in 2015. That is about 70 years of service. I believe that it was sometime in the very early 1990s that the last two of you owned by the U.S. Forest Service had your round piston engines removed to be converted to a turbo prop along with other renovations. You were then sometimes referred to as a BT-67 after Basler Turbo Conversions, the company that did the conversion.

I wish that I knew how many of your kind flew for the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management or one of their contractors, but I do not. I think that the numbers may not really matter. What matters is that many of you flew smokejumpers. You served long and well, flying what could be tens of thousands of smokejumpers and their cargo to remote wildfires, mostly in the western U.S. and Canada. That is, many remote wildfires that thanks to you and other jump ships smokejumpers could reach the fire in a matter of hours as opposed to what may have been a day long hike in carrying heavy fire gear and rations.

It is my very great loss that I have not gotten to know you better in your service as a jump ship. Nonetheless, I love you and you have a special place in my heart. While other types of jump ships are flying the smokejumpers, you have a special place in my heart. Thank-you for your service.

In this 2005 video below at about 1:45 you will hear smokejumper Skodt Jones talk about the DC-3.


Direct link to video on Youtube


Direct link to video on Youtube

Reflections on the DC-3 (part 1 of 2)

This is the first of a two part reflection piece about the Douglas DC-3 aircraft. In part 2 to post on May 8th, I will focus on her service as a smokejumping aircraft.

The other day I took a look at the different types of air tankers and Helicopters that I have written about over the past four to five months. I have covered many, but not all, of the current and past air tankers and Helicopters. I was wondering what aircraft involved in wildland firefighting that I could write about next when I thought that I should try to write about some of the current and past smokejumping aircraft. I believe but am not certain that there are at least three smokejumper aircraft currently flying to choose from, the DeHavilland Twin Otter, the the Shorts Sherpa, and the Dornier 228. Rom my reading I heard of one of the variants of the Beech 18. And then there is the Douglas DC-3. I am starting with the Douglas DC-3, I will get to her in a moment. I hope that I will be able to write about the other smokejumping  aircraft in the future I have had some more time to scour the internet for information and to be sure that what I write will not be incorrect.

Before I get to the DC-3's service as a smokejumper aircraft, I want to pause and acknowledge that the DC-3 is among my favorite airplanes. I have seen her or her military cousins hanging on display in museums. but never up close and personal. Her military versions, the U.S. Army C-47, the U.S. Navy R4D, and the British Royal Air Force Dakota saw service as a military transport during and after World War II. Her civilian version, the DC-3 carried passengers on commercial flights (see this article from the Smithsonian Magazine).

Here are some articles that I wrote where you may learn a little more about the DC-3:

• 75th anniversary of the DC-3 (December 17, 2010)
• About the DC-3 
• DC-3 engine sound 
• Virtual tour of the DC-3 courtesy of the MAAM

I close with some videos about the DC-3/C-47.


The Douglas C-47 Military Transport from SleepingDogTV on Vimeo.


Direct link to video from the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on Youtube 


Direct link to video from the Smithsonian Channel on Youtube

Last season for last DC-3 smokejumper aircraft - Jump 15

Earlier today, I read that this is the last season for the last DC-3 smokejumper aircraft, see Bill Gabbert's Fire Aviation Blog (February 22, 2015) and an article (February 21, 2015) from the Missoulian. Here is passage from the Missoulian February 22nd article where I got a sense of how much she is loved by her pilots and passengers.

“It has been flying since my grandpa was in the Army Air Corps,” smokejumper Colby Jackson said as the big plane’s engines howled through a pre-season test run. “He always gets a kick seeing pictures of us with the DC-3. He was stationed with them in Africa, when they were C-47s.” 

Jump-15 (its radio call sign) is the last DC-3 still hauling smokejumpers and backcountry cargo for the U.S. Forest Service. Pilots love her ability to land and launch from tiny forest airstrips, her muscle and endurance. Jumpers love her big exit door and reputation for reliability. With room for 16 parachute-strapped firefighters and all their gear, Jump-15 has twice the capacity of any other jump plane on the runway.

And in the 2005 video below at about marker 1:45 Smokejumper Skodt Jones talks about one of the DC-3 smokejumper aircraft (not sure which one). Jump 15's sister, Jump 42 retired a couple of years ago. I wrote about the DC-3 Smokejumper Airplanes on December 31, 2010.

direct link to video

Jump 15, I have never had the privilege of meeting you in person. I know that you are loved. You have served long as well as a smokejump aircraft. I wish that I knew how many missions you flew and where. You are almost 70 years old, wow. I wasn't born yet. A lot of us weren't born yet. You are a special lady, the last one of your kind flying as a smokejumper aircraft. I wish you, your pilots, and your smokejumpers in this your last season. Be safe. 

Take-off and Landing a DC-3

I wanted to find a nice airplane video to share with you on this New Years Eve, so I spent a couple of hours this morning looking at various videos until I came upon this video from AVweb that I embed here. You will see John Sessions of the Historic Flight Foundations getting some advice from Don Gryder in his then newly renovated DC-3.

Enjoy.

For those who will be out and about on this New Year Eve, safe travels. Happy New Year everyone!


direct link to video

DC-3 (part 6) virtual tour courtesy of MAAM

Thanks to the folk of the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM) in Reading PA, we have the opportunity to take a virtual tour of a restored R4D-6 (DC-3. The R4D-6 was the US Naval version of the US Army C-47 (DC-3). Both the C-47, the R4D-6 and the RAF Dakota were used as transport aircraft in World War II. For more on her history and the restoration, go here. To the best of my knowledge, the MAAM R4D-6 is airworthy as it is available for airshows.

You may also take "virtual tours" of the MAAM R4D-6, each of the following five pages of the tour has several images that you can click along with descriptions of each image:

• walk around
• cockpit
• instrument panels
• cabin
• engines

Enjoy!

DC-3 (part 5) - smokejumping aircraft

Direct link to video on Youtube 

According to McCalls Smokeumpers the DC-3 entered service as a smokejumper aircraft in 1944 (link no longer available). In 1958, the California Smokejumpers first used the DC-3 .

At the time I first wrote this article, the US Forest Service currently had two DC-3 smokejumper aircraft that have been converted to turbo props. (Edited on May 6, 2020, the page that I linked to here about the USFS DC-3s is no longer available), the last DC-3 smokejumper aircraft was retired after the 2015 season. The two videos embedded here show the USFS turboprop DC-3.

Enjoy!


Direct link to video

Edited on May 6, 2020

DC-3 (part 4) -- Last Time Reunion

Last summer, July 23 to 26 to be specific, there was a reunion of 30 DC-3's and C-47's dubbed "The Last Time" in Rock Falls Illinois. There is a nice article (link no longer available) in the AOPA Pilot (December 2010) on this reunion of DC-3's/C-47's in honor of their 75th birthday. It was the first article that I turned to when I got my copy in the mail. I am hoping that this article is still freely available, so I have linked to it. At least it was freely available several days ago (a good friend who is not an AOPA member checked on this for me.

In the video that I embedded here, you are seeing some DC-3 enroute from "The Last Time" reunion to the EAA gathering in OshKosh. Enjoy!

Added on May 6, 2020: the video that I originally linked to as well as the article are no longer available.

DC-3 engine sound (part 3)

You gotta love those round engines!



Direct link to video

About the DC-3 (part 2)

Direct link to video on Youtube

The first of the Douglas passenger aircraft, known as the DC-1 had its inaugural flight on July 1, 1933 and was delivered to TWA on September 13, 1933. Carrying up to 12 passenger, it could fly up to 180 mph. In April 1935, she set a transcontinental speed record, from Los Angeles CA to New York, in 11 hours and five minutes.

Prior to accepting delivery of the DC-1, TWA placed an order with Douglas for 25 of the new and improved version, the DC-2. The first DC-3 flew on December 17, 1935. The DC-3 could flew across country with only refueling stop. There were a couple of military versions of the DC-3, the most common being the C-47, that served as troop transports, paratrooper transports, and utility transports during WW II. Post-war, the DC-3 continued in service, including but not limited to service for smoke jumpers. The DC-3 continues in service today.

Specifications of the Douglas DC-3

Powerplants: 2 895 kW (1200 hp) Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp 14 cylinder twin row radial piston engines, or 2 895 kW (1200 hp) Wright Cyclone nine cylinder radials.
wing span: 95 ft 0 in
length: 64 ft 5 in
height: 16 ft 4 in
empty weight: 17,720 lbs.
maximum take-off gross weight: 28,000 lbs.
Performance: Max speed 346 km/h (187 kt), economical crusing speed 266 km/h (143 kt). Initial rate of climb 1130 ft/min. Max range 2420 km (1307 nautical miles), range with max payload 563 km (305 nautical miles).
Capacity: Flight crew of two. Seating for between 28 and 32 passengers at four abreast or 21 three abreast.

Stay tuned for more about this magnificent aircraft.

Edited on May 6, 2020 to add: the article that I originally linked was on a site that may pose security risks so I have deleted it. For the time being, if you want to read more about the DC-3 please go to this wikipedia article

A belated 75th birthday to the DC-3

The DC-3 turned 75 on Friday December 17, 2010. Stay tuned for more on this magnificent aircraft in a couple of days.

Updated on May 6, 2020. When I first wrote this article, I had shared a video that I liked and linked to an article. As happens, both of these links have expired. So, I found an article from the DefenseMediaNetwork originally published on December 15, 2010, the article may be found here. It is a nice article with some vintage pictures. Enjoy.

DC-3

Here are a couple of videos of Buffalo Airway's DC-3's. Buffalo Airways, located in Yellowknife, NWT in Canada is one of the last commercial operators of DC-3's. She is beautiful, isn't she?

Postscript added Sunday September 5, 2010

Specifications for the DC-3 may be found here.

A I understand it smoke jumpers used relied heavily on DC-3's for a lot of years. Other aircrafts such as Sherpas are being used by smoke jumpers, but the DC-3's are still around. For example, the fleet of aircraft used by the Missoula Smokejumpers includes a turbine DC-3.