Douglas DC-3 Wallpapers

Douglas DC-3 Skymaster Aircraft - photo wallpapers; Megawallpapers.org  :  The Douglas DC-3 is a fixed-wing, propeller-driven aircraft, which revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s and is generally regarded as one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made (also see Boeing 707 and Boeing 747). The DC-3 was engineered by a team led by chief engineer Arthur E. Raymond, and first flew on December 17, 1935 (the 32nd anniversary of the Wright Brothers flight at Kitty Hawk). The plane was the result of a marathon phone call from American Airlines CEO Cyrus Smith to Douglas demanding improvements in the design of the DC-2. The amenities of the DC-3 (including sleeping berths on early models and an in-flight kitchen) popularized air travel in the United States. [br]With just one refuelling stop, transcontinental flights across America [br]became possible. Before the arrival of the DC-3, such a trip would [br]entail short hops in commuter aircraft, during the day, coupled with [br]train travel overnight. Early U.S. airlines like United, American, TWA and Eastern ordered over 400 DC-3s. These fleets paved the way for the modern American air travel industry, quickly replacing trains as the favored means of long-distance travel across the United States. Piedmont Airlines operated DC-3s from 1948 to 1963. One of Piedmont's DC-3s, operated by the Carolinas Aviation Museum, continues to fly to air shows today and has been used in various movies. During World War II, [br]many civilian DC-3s were drafted for the war effort and thousands of [br]military versions of the DC-3 were built, under the designations C-47, C-53, R4D and Dakota. [br]The armed forces of many countries used the DC-3 and its military [br]variants for the transport of troops, cargo and wounded. Over 10,000 [br]aircraft were produced (some as licensed copies in Japan as Showa L2D and in the USSR as the Lisunov Li-2). After the war, thousands of surplus C-47s were converted to civil [br]service and became the standard equipment of almost all the world's [br]airlines, remaining in front-line service for many years. The ready [br]availability of ex-military examples of this cheap, easily-maintained [br]aircraft (it was both large and fast by the standards of the day) [br]jump-started the worldwide, post-war air transport industry. Douglas [br]had developed an improved version, with a greater cargo capacity and a [br]different wing, which it attempted to sell during this time frame but [br]with all these surplus aircraft, the Super DC-3 did not sell. Numerous attempts were made to design a "DC-3 replacement", over the next three decades (including the very successful Fokker Friendship) [br]but no single type could match the versatility, rugged reliability and [br]economy of the DC-3 and it remained a significant part of air transport [br]systems, well into the 1970s. Even today, over 70 years after the DC-3 [br]first flew, there are still small operators with DC-3s in revenue [br]service and as cargo [br]planes. The common saying among aviation buffs and pilots is that "the [br]only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3." The aircraft's legendary [br]ruggedness is enshrined in the lighthearted description of the DC-3 as [br]"a collection of parts flying in loose formation." Its ability to start [br]and land on grass or dirt runways also makes it popular in developing [br]countries, where the runways may not always be a paved surface. Some of the more common uses of the DC3 have been aerial spraying, [br]freight transport, passenger service, military transport and sport skydiving shuttling. A Swedish C-47 (Swedish designation Tp79) was shot down over the Baltic Sea in June 1952. This was part of an international incident (see the Catalina affair). Production: 10,655 DC-3s were built at Santa Monica, California and Long Beach, California in both civil and military versions. 2000 or so were built in Russia, under license, as the Lisunov Li-2 (NATO reporting name: Cab). 485 were built in Japan, as the L2D Type 0 transport. More than 400 remained in commercial service, in 1998. A wide variety of engines was fitted to the DC-3 throughout the course of production. The most popular was the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Double Wasp radial, but both the Wright R-1820 Cyclone and the Pratt & Whitney R-2000 radials saw use. Some DC-3s were upgraded to use Rolls-Royce Dart or Armstrong Siddeley Mamba turbines. The Basler BT-67 is a derivative type of the DC-3. Basler [br]refurbishes DC-3s, fitting them with PT-6 turbo-prop engines, [br]lengthening the fuselage by over 3 feet and strengthening the airframes [br]in selected areas. [br]Country of origin: USA [br]_________________________________________________________________________________________________ [br]Engines: two 1000hp Wright Cyclones SGR-1820 9-cylinder radials [br]_________________________________________________________________________________________________ [br]Wingspan: 28.96 m (95ft) [br]_________________________________________________________________________________________________ [br]Lenght: 19.65 m (64ft 5in) [br]_________________________________________________________________________________________________ [br]Height: 4.97 m (16ft 3in) [br]_________________________________________________________________________________________________ [br]Weight loaded: 10,886 kg (42,000lb) [br]_________________________________________________________________________________________________ [br]Cruising speed: 298 km/h (185mph) [br]_________________________________________________________________________________________________ [br]Service celling: 7070 m (23,200 miles) [br]_________________________________________________________________________________________________ [br]Range: 2414 km (1500 miles) [br]_________________________________________________________________________________________________ [br]Passengers + crew: 21 + 2 [br]_________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Douglas DC-3 Wallpapers @ Mega Wallpapers (08 Edition)