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About Douglas DC-3 (Lisunov Li-2)
Douglas DC-3 (Lisunov Li-2) 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.
With just one refuelling stop, transcontinental flights across America
became possible. Before the arrival of the DC-3, such a trip would
entail short hops in commuter aircraft, during the day, coupled with
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,
many civilian DC-3s were drafted for the war effort and thousands of
military versions of the DC-3 were built, under the designations C-47, C-53, R4D and Dakota.
The armed forces of many countries used the DC-3 and its military
variants for the transport of troops, cargo and wounded. Over 10,000
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 ...