Contents:
What Donald Douglas wrought
By:
Ben Cook
My first flight on a DC-3 was San Diego to Santa Barbara on a United Flight in December, 1942.
I had a couple of hops on an Army Air Corps C47 from Espiritu Santos to Henderson Field on Guadalcanal in 1943.
During the Bougainville Campaign I was attached to HQ Squadron, Marine Aircraft Group 24.
We operated under AirSols and frequently flew on Marine MATS R4Ds up and down the slot.
After the WWII, I flew commercially on Braniff out of Dallas Love to Tulsa as a "goffer" for a drilling contractor.
I made other flights on an American DC3 from Dallas Love to Amarillo, Lubbock, and Midland.
I remember one memorable flight on a Continental DC3 out of College Station
to Greater Southwest at Arlington via Oklahoma City.
We hit a front between College Station and Waco.
The turbulence was so severe the seat cushions
were flying around the cabin.
The stewardess suffered a severe head laceration.
Because of 50 mph crosswinds on instrument runways at Dallas Love, Meacham,
and Greater Southwest, we diverted to Oklahoma City, where we waited out the frontal passage.
The stewardess could not make the flight to Greater Southwest,
and the pilot informed me that CAA regs would prevent my going as a passenger.
I talked him into listing me on the manifest as freight,
and I served my own coffee on a smooth flight back to North Texas.
My wife was secretary to the president of old Central Airlines in the late 50's
when the small regional carrier set up shot at Greater Southwest Airport.
She and I made several flights on Central DC-3s,
which were converted R4Ds that had seen service in the Navy.
They were a little faster than the airline configuration.
Some of their distinguishing marks were wheel fairings that shielded the main gear tires.
They also had more powerful Pratt and Whitney engines than the original airline configuration.
The trip profiles, especially the short hops with small passenger manifests,
eventually became too unprofitable.
The majestic old birds that conquered continents,
helped win the war,
and established airline travel
all too soon gave way to the turboprops of
Consolidated, BAC, DeHavilland, and Fokker.
None of their successors, however,
have matched the beauty of configuration,
the rugged capability of airliner and freighter, and the
mystique that captured the imagination of the flying public.
What Donald Douglas and his engineers wrought
will forever be linked to the golden age of aviation.
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