Statesman, Salfm.'Ore., Sun., Nov. 10, '37 (Sec III)-23
Congress Asked for Help in Retiring Famous DC3, Flying Workhorse of Military and Airlines
By VERN HAUGLAND
Associated Preu Aviation Writer
The pamphlet reads: "To Con
gress: Please help an old work
horse airplane to retire."
The picture thus plea illustrates
. shows an old swaybacked mare,
labled DC3. It refers to the 21-
year-old airplane that became 4he
backbone ot u.s. commercial and
military transport.
The Assn. of Local and Terri
torial Airlines, which printed the
pamphlet, was plugging for fed
erally guaranteed loans to airlines
so they could buy new planes to
replace the DC3s.
The association claims 90 por
cent of the transport planes in the
United States, Alaska and Hawaii
are DC3s "still safe and reliable,
but not able to compete with to-
oay fast,, pressurized craft."
Other Marked
congress granted government
aid in financing late in the last
session and now there is specula
tion that the laws mav have
opened ud markets for other air
liners like the French Caravelle as
possible successors to the DC3.
If this comes about it will prob
ably write finis to the fantastic
story of an airplane now older
in design than some of the men
who fly it an airplane that never
quit.
It was born in a letter dated
Aug. 2. 1932. to Donald Dnnpla
president of the Douglas Aircraft
Company. Jack Frye, then vice
Vertical Take-Off Airliner
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MAIDENHEAD, England, Nov. 9 Falrey Rotodyne, vertical
take-off airliner, is shown during first flight. Aircraft will
carry 48 passengers or 4 tons of freight up to 400
miles at a cruising speed of 185 miles per hour. (AP)
Western -Restrictions Hurt
Expansion of Red Chinese
By WATSON SIMS
LONDON. Nov. 9 UV-A British
government leader who returned
this week from a tour of Red
China's industrial centers said to
day that country unquestionably is
being hurt by Western trade re
strictions. "It was a subject which came
up everywhere 1 went, each time
I talked with government or in
dustrial' leaders," said F. J. Er
roll, whose four-week tour marked
the first visit to China by a British
minister since the Communists
took control, said he found a mix
ture of defiance and resentment
tuB.H tha A1IiaI Kan ah .tralnin
materials.
"On one hand the Chinese said
the restrictions had been good for
the country because they had
forced China to become more self
sufficient," Erroll said in an inter
view. "But on the other hand they
would demand: 'Why are you here
to talk about trade when there is
so much you will not trade?' "
Expaosloa Held Back
During a tour which included all
major Chinese industrial cities,
Erroll said he saw much evidence
that the nation's industrial expan
sion had been held back by the
lack of Western trade, particularly
in petroleum, ships and precision
machinery.
Erroll went to China on what
he described as a ground paving
mission aimed at expanding
British-Chinese trade in non-strategic
materials. Britain eased her
restrictions on such trade last
May despite U. S. objections, but
still prohibits goods which might
contribute to China's war po
tential. In addition to widespread re
sentment of Western trade re
strictions, Erroll's major impres
sions o( the tour included:
1. The Chinese are eager to
check the price and performance
of Western products against
present equipment which has been
obtained almost solely from
Russia.
Long-Run Goal
2. In the long run China's goal
is economic self sufficiency. China
would like to be economically in
dependent both of Russia and the
West.
3. China, although still back
ward, has made great strides
during its first 5-year plan and
may be expected to develop in
dustrially as quickly as Commu
nist Russia.
4. Chinese industrial products.
particularly the "Liberation
lorry" a 4-ton truck compare
reasonably well with Western
products. Chinese workmen have
talent, brains and natural mechan
ical ability.
Although a 20-man Red Chinese
trade team is now on a month
long shopping tour in Britain, Er
roll does not look for any sudden
surge in British-Chinese trade.
"The Chinese are very price
conscious," he said. "That's why
they want to compare our prices
with those of Russia. And like all
good bargainers, they're apt to be
slow to buy."
president of Transcontinental and
Western Air. Inc., asked Douglas
if he would be interested in build
ing an all-metal, three motor Mon
oplane with a range of 1,080 miles,
a cruising speed of 150 mph and
seats for 12 passengers.
It-Passenger Plane
Douglas responded with the DO
a 12-passcnger, twin engine plane
that won 19 world records for
speed, range and load carrying
by mid-1935. Then came the 14
passenger DC2 and, in December
1935, the 21 passenger DC3.
American Airlines bought the
first 20 planes for $110,000 each
and put some of them into service
between New York and Chicago in
June 1936, making it a nonstop
trip between those cities for the
first time.
The DC3 cruised at 195 miles
per hour and had the unprec
edented range of 1,380 miles.
Said American Airlines Presi
dent C. R. Smith: "It was the first
airplane tnat could make money
just by hauling passengers.
Within three years of its intro
duction, the DC3 was carrying 90
per cent of the world s airline
traffic.
Larger, faster and more luxuri
ous than any airliner before it.
the DC3 proved at the outbreak of
World War II that it was equally
ettective as a military transport.
Thousands Made
Altogether Douglas aircraft, at
its Santa Monica. Long Beach and
Oklahoma City plants, built 803
DC3 airliners and 10,125 of the
military version before discontinu
ing production in 1948. The mili
tary types were known variously
as the C47, C49, C53 and Cllfi for
the Army. R4D for the Navy, the
Dakota, Gooneybird, SJtytrain.
Skytrooper, and in the version
adapted by the Russians from the
C47s that came into their hands,
the Uyushin IL2.
In military harness the DC3
saw duty in every theater of opera
tions, took part in every major
invasion and campaign.
It towed gliders, dropped para
troopers and carried airborne in
fantry, casualties in litters as
well as in bucket seats weapons,
maitr jeepsrammunltJorr and fuel.
The plane also starred in the
operation of an aerial supply line
across the Himalayas from North
ern India to Chungking, wartime
capital of China subbing for the
Burma Road.
Woa the War
Gen. Eisenhower once said the
jeep and the C47 were among the
weapons that did the most to win
the war."
On May 5, 1952, an Air Force
C47 landed at the North Pole. A
Navy R4D similarly made the first
landing at the South Pole early
this year.
An unusually sturdy aircraft,
the DC3 flew regularly for the
military services at much heavier
loads than initially planned for it.
One DC3 in airline service in
the United States lost five feet of
wing tip in a flight collision, yet
landed safely with a load of pas
sengers. A DC3 in China, missing
its right wing, was fitted with the
wing of a D C 2 some 10 feet
shorter than its left wing and was
flown safely to a base. The crew
called it a DC2'i.
Best Safety Retard
A CAB study of transport plane
accidents from Julv 1. 1947.
through Dec. 31, 1954, said:
"Of all the established transport
airplanes, the DC3 has the lowest
accident rate an average of nine
for each million hours of flight
and has been the most consistent
from year to year.
"In the 7i-yesr period under
study, the DCS flew twice as many
revenue hours as its nearest rival,
the DC4, and more than one third
of all the revenue hours flown by
all types."
When the local service airlines
came into bein? alter World War
II, they found that the DCS was by
far the most satisfactory airplane
available. Priced at $112,000 to
$131,000 in the 1937-41 period, the
plane became available from war
surplus stocks for as little as
$10,000 or $20,000.
Half-Million Dollars
A basic DCS, built new today,
would Cost $450,000 to $500,000.
The Society of British Aircraft
Constructors says that "there can
not be any one replacement of the
ubiquitous DCS. Already Vis
counts, Herons and Doves ' lo
name but a few types have re
placed DC3s ia many parts of the
world."
Whatever plane from whatever
country takes over the flying
routes of the DCS, no plane will
ever take over its place in memo
ry or amazing record of perform-.
ance over a suddenly alr-eonscious
world for a generation. ' .
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