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THE DC-3
The Grand Old Lady of Aviation

During the time Franklin Delano Roosevelt was serving his first term as President of the United States, corporate officials of the Douglas Corporation in Long Beach, California were diligently working on an airplane that would years later be hailed as “the airplane that changed the world.”

Time has proven how truly successful that effort was with the production of the immortal DC-3. In the U.S., 10,926 DC-3’s were built by Douglas – over 2,000 of which are still flying strong today.

American Airlines was the first commercial operator to utilize the DC-3, in 1936. Soon Pan Am and other airlines were pioneering routes in the U.S. as well as Canada and Alaska using this sturdy workhorse, which can land safely on beaches and unimproved strips as well as modern airports.

The DC-3, also known as the C-47 went to war in 1941 serving all allied nations. Many seemingly impossible missions were accomplished with the flexible DC-3. The venerable Grand Old Lady was the first airplane to land at the North Pole and the first to land at the South Pole.

Once a member of the 8^th Air Force, this Grand Old Lady more than likely took part in D-Day operations with a Troop Carrier Squadron in WWII. Whether saving Guadalcanal during the bleakest days of the war or carrying troops for history’s greatest invasions, the DC-3/C-47 has been an important link to freedom.

An impressive tribute to this airplane was made when Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “The three things that helped win World War II were the jeep, the bazooka, and the DC-3.”

1944H SPEC                         1944M SPEC