Encyclopedia - Douglas DC-3/C-47 Dakota

In mid-1935 a request was made by C.R. Smith, president of American Airlines, for an aircraft to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2. Under the leadership of Fred Stineman, the project chief of Douglas, design started on what was called the Douglas Sleeper Transport (DST). The first flight of the prototype DC-3 (still known as the DST at that stage) was made on 17 September 1935 with Carl A. Cover as test pilot.

The prototype entered service with American Airlines on 11 July 1936. By 1939 the DC-3 served with all the major airlines at the time, eg Braniff, Eastern, Pennsylvania-Central. Overseas carriers include KLM, Panagra, Australian National, Swissair, Air France, Sabena and LOT. The DC-3 was also built under licence with Nakajima from Japan and in the Soviet Union.

The design had also been noticed in USA by Air Transport Command, which was already a well-established military carrier. In September 1940 an order was placed for 545 DC-3’s, which were named as the C-47 Skytrain. At the end of 1941 the order was increased by another 70 C-47’s and almost 100 C-53’s, which was the US Army’s passenger version.

The DC-3 is a low-wing twin-engined monoplane with retractable tailwheel undercarriage. The C-47 was differed from the DC-3 in having a stronger floor, larger cargo doors and the stronger Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 engines. The DC-3 and C-47 has since been modified by some operators to be powered by two Pratt & Whitney turboprop engines.

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