Flying the legendary DC-3!

These kind of videos bring back lots of memories. I was a very young captain on C47 and DC3 in 1971. After flying 70 different ones including the R4D and the C47 on skis I have good memories and a few scary ones. The airplane was a wonderful machine, a tough airplane and that’s why it has lasted so long.

My first ever airplane ride was in a DC-3. I was 13 (1966) and in a rollover accident with my parents on Prince Edward Island. As we were from Michigan, and now had no car, plus my mother had a broken back from the accident, we had to fly home. The first leg was in a DC-3 from PEI to Moncton, New Brunswick. I can remember the plane like it was yesterday.

My first experience with a DC-3 was on a school field trip, at age 7 in 1953, to the new "Idlewild" (later JFK) Airport! Then, in 1969, while in the National Guard, I flew at night in a commercial one, from La Guardia airport to Ft. Drum, NY! My fiance, (later my wife of 54 years), kissed me goodbye, as the engine revved up, like in the movie "Casablanca"! We made stops in Albany & Syracuse, landing on grassy runways! It was a "flashback in time" moment! Great memories!

Just gorgeous. Brings back so many memories. You see, I was born (1942) in the little West Indian island of Grenada. The DC-3 was the largest aircraft to service these islands & as a teenager, my cousin & I would scuttle up the tallest tree, just to get a glimpse of a BWIA Dakota coming in to land at Pearls Airport. This runway is no longer in flight use, instead an International airport near the capital, St.Gorges can cater for 777'S! It was 1960 & I left Grenada in a DC-3 for Barbados, transfer to a DC-7C Seven Seas (BOAC) to London Heathrow via Idlewild (remember that) You have to experience the noise & vibration of the Wright radials, all 4 of them. That is 72 cylinders all playing a tune! Deafening. I so wish to have one last trip in a Dakota, before I am in the box.

It’s amazing to see this 80 years old plane flying efficiently

I remember getting on one of these in 1959 at Fairbanks Alaska, 40 below zero, flew to Point Borrow and to Bar Main, landed in blowing snow, bitterly cold. I worked on the Dewline for 2 and half years. The DC3, DC4 and Otters were the workhorses of the Dewline, I loved this time of my life.

The DC-3 is an incredible aircraft. It served equally well in both military service and commercial aviation. There is not anything else like it. 80 years!! I've dreamed of flying on one of these for many years. Maybe someday.

Oh the magical sound of those engines on take off. Harmony to my ears! I’ve been in one of these. It’s a great experience!

I was born in the mid 1950's. My parents were missionaries in the highlands of PNG. There were no roads through to where we lived. The only way to get goods in and out was via plane. DC3's (and smaller planes) were a regular sight. Us missionaries would occasionally scrounge lifts aboard DC3 cargo planes, if there was room (which there usually was on the way out). The seats were not the comfortable ones featured in this video. The plain, non-cushioned vinyl seats folded down from the sides of the cargo compartment. Your back rested against the bare metal of the fuselage. With all the turbulence in those high mountains, it got quite uncomfortable. There was no inner lining of the fuselage, so it was also very cold. Our parents got us to rug right up before we got onboard. There was no cabin crew or safety briefing. The pilots told us to where to sit, buckle up and stay there. Despite all that, I remember the DC3 with fondness.

Love the old aircraft. Such a nice break from seeing first-class cabins on big planes. Refreshing and fun. Thanks.

I flew on DC-3s as a young child in the 1960s - with Reeve Aleutian Airways in Alaska. I was even transported home from Anchorage on a DC-3 after I was born. The whirr of those motors is still stuck in my head after all these years! I have many wonderful slides of my family in and around those wonderful planes!

I was incredibly fortunate to have flown this bird from OSH23 and I have to say that this aircraft is a BEAST!! You really have to appreciate all involved in maintaining aircraft like these and the dedication and passion it takes to preserve the rich history behind these birds. I was initially intimidated to fly on such an outdated aircraft but it just goes to show how there are so many different corners of aviation that one is yet to find the beauty in. Thank you for sharing, this was AWESOME!!!

I flew on one of these which was operated by Air Atlantique out of Coventry several years ago (1990s I think). Flying at around 1500/2000 feet over Warwick and the Malverns was superb. Anyway, the trip was organised by someone at Knowle Royal British Legion. One of the members had been in the paras in WW2 and he was on the flight. He made a statement before we landed saying he had taken off in one of these many, many times, but had never landed in one!

I have already flown in a DC-3 and I must say that it is quite impressive before taking off but in the air it is straight like any plane but the engines are super bryant! I loved!

The U S Forest service flew a DC3 out of Boise, used to deliver fire fighting gear to remote fire camps. Dirt strips were no problem.

My first flight, in my teens, as a cadet in the Royal Australian Air Force, was in the DC3. Being a senior cadet, I had the honour of taking the wheel in the copilot's seat. The sound and feel of the radial engines remains with me today, 60 years later. I guess you could say it is a passion.

Nice to see so many smiles on board, truly a privilege to be able to take such a flight.

Incredible DC - 3 aircraft brings lot of memories back of people around the world.

In 1964 I was flying on a DC8 from Portland, Oregon to San Diego, CA. Plane had issues and we had to land in LA. They put those of us going to San Diego on a United DC3, late at night but nice ride. I was 17 then, remember it well. I ended up with a commercial license and always wanted to fly one!

Volver a recordar mis vuelos en DC-3 en un ejemplar en perfecto estado de aeronavegabilidad... y ver a la aeromoza tan contenta... es un video inmejorable. Mil gracias a SAS ... una empresa que sabe mantener el negocio y las tradiciones en el lugar que corresponden a cada uno!