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59-571: Unlike other far more successful propeller-driven Douglas aircraft, such as the DC-3 and DC-6, no examples of the DC-7 remain in service as of 2020. In 1945 Pan American World Airways requested a DC-7, a civil version of the Douglas C-74 Globemaster military transport. Pan Am soon canceled their order. That proposed DC-7 was unrelated to the later DC-6 -derived airliner. American Airlines revived

118-503: A "DC-3 replacement" over the next three decades (including the very successful Fokker F27 Friendship ), but no single type could match the versatility, rugged reliability, and economy of the DC-3. While newer airliners soon replaced it on longer high-capacity routes, it remained a significant part of air transport systems well into the 1970s as a regional airliner before being replaced by early regional jets . Perhaps unique among prewar aircraft,

177-763: A General Electric turbocharger ), the twin-engine Martin B-26 Marauder and Douglas A-26 Invader , as well as the first purpose-built twin-engine radar-equipped night fighter, the Northrop P-61 Black Widow . When the US entered the war in December 1941, designs advanced rapidly, and long-established engines such as the Wright Cyclone and Double Wasp were re-rated on fuel of much higher octane rating ( anti-knock value) to give considerably more power. By 1944, versions of

236-463: A capacity of 21 to 32 passengers or 6,000 lbs (2,700 kg) of cargo, and a range of 1,500 mi (2,400 km), and can operate from short runways. The DC-3 had many exceptional qualities compared to previous aircraft. It was fast, had a good range, was more reliable, and carried passengers in greater comfort. Before the World War II, it pioneered many air travel routes. It was able to cross

295-434: A decommissioned model is attached to the store. There is dine-in seating available in the plane. Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Pratt %26 Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp The Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp is an American twin-row, 18-cylinder, air-cooled radial aircraft engine with a displacement of 2,800 cu in (46 L), and

354-401: A few non-stop flights from New York to Europe, but westward non-stops against the prevailing wind were rarely possible with an economic payload. The Lockheed Super Constellation and DC-7B that appeared in 1955 could occasionally make the westward trip, but in summer 1956 Pan Am's DC-7C finally started doing it fairly reliably. BOAC was forced to respond by purchasing DC-7Cs rather than wait on

413-699: A larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version of the Douglas DC-2 . It is a low-wing metal monoplane with conventional landing gear , powered by two radial piston engines of 1,000–1,200 hp (750–890 kW). Although the DC-3s originally built for civil service had the Wright R-1820 Cyclone , later civilian DC-3s used the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engine. The DC-3 has a cruising speed of 207 mph (333 km/h),

472-625: A trip entailed short hops in slower and shorter-range aircraft during the day, coupled with train travel overnight . Several radial engines were offered for the DC-3. Early-production civilian aircraft used either the 9-cylinder Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 or the 14-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp , but the Twin Wasp was chosen for most military versions and was also used by most DC-3s converted from military service. Five DC-3S Super DC-3s with Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasps were built in

531-501: A very large number of civil and military operators of the DC-3/C-47 and related types, which would have made it impracticable to provide a comprehensive listing of all operators. A common saying among aviation enthusiasts and pilots is "the only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3". Its ability to use grass or dirt runways makes it popular in developing countries or remote areas, where runways may be unpaved. The oldest surviving DST

590-399: Is N133D, the sixth Douglas Sleeper Transport built, manufactured in 1936. This aircraft was delivered to American Airlines on 12 July 1936 as NC16005. In 2011 it was at Shell Creek Airport, Punta Gorda, Florida . It has been repaired and has been flying again, with a recent flight on 25 April 2021. The oldest DC-3 still flying is the original American Airlines Flagship Detroit (c/n 1920,

649-837: Is a conversion of the DC-3/C-47. Basler refurbishes C-47s and DC-3s at Oshkosh , Wisconsin , fitting them with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67R turboprop engines, lengthening the fuselage by 40 in (1,000 mm) with a fuselage plug ahead of the wing, and some local strengthening of the airframe. South Africa-based Braddick Specialised Air Services International (commonly referred to as BSAS International) has also performed Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboprop conversions, having performed modifications on over 50 DC-3/C-47s / 65ARTP / 67RTP / 67FTPs. American Airlines inaugurated passenger service on June 26, 1936, with simultaneous flights from Newark, New Jersey and Chicago , Illinois. Early U.S. airlines like American , United , TWA , Eastern , and Delta ordered over 400 DC-3s. These fleets paved

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708-401: Is part of the long-lived Wasp family of engines . The R-2800 saw widespread use in many important American aircraft during and after World War II . During the war years, Pratt & Whitney continued to develop new ideas to upgrade the engine, including water injection for takeoff in cargo and passenger planes and to give emergency power in combat. First run in 1937, near the time that

767-581: The C-47 Skytrain (the Dakota in British RAF service), and Soviet- and Japanese-built versions, brought total production to over 16,000. Many continued to be used in a variety of niche roles; 2,000 DC-3s and military derivatives were estimated to be still flying in 2013; by 2017 more than 300 were still flying. As of 2023 it is estimated about 150 are still flying. "DC" stands for "Douglas Commercial". The DC-3

826-537: The Canadair CL-215 water-bomber. In addition, R-2800s continue to power Douglas DC-6 cargo and fuel-carrying aircraft in locations such as Alaska . A total of 125,334 R-2800 engines were produced between 1939 and 1960. This is a list of representative R-2800 variants, describing some of the mechanical changes made during development of the Double Wasp. Power ratings quoted are usually maximum "military" power that

885-448: The DC-7B with slightly more power, and on some DC-7Bs (Pan Am and South African Airways), fuel tanks over the wing in the rear of the engine nacelles, each carrying 220 US gallons (183 imp gal; 833 L). South African Airways used this variant to fly Johannesburg to London with one stop. Pan Am's DC-7Bs started flying transatlantic in summer 1955, scheduled 1 hr 45 min faster than

944-644: The Douglas DC-6 , Martin 4-0-4 , and Convair 240 transports. The last two were twin-engine aircraft of size, passenger capacity, and high wing loading comparable to the DC-4 - itself usually powered by the R-2000 bored-out version of the Twin Wasp - and the first Constellations , which mostly used Wright Aeronautical's large Duplex-Cyclones. The Double Wasp still flies in restored vintage warbird aircraft displayed at air shows , and sees service worldwide on aircraft such as

1003-522: The Super Stratocruiser from New York to London or Paris. Early DC-7s were purchased only by U.S. carriers. European carriers could not take advantage of the small range-increase of the early DC-7, so Douglas released an extended-range variant, the DC-7C ( Seven Seas ) in 1956. Two 5 ft (1.5 m) wingroot inserts added fuel capacity, reduced interference drag and made the cabin quieter by moving

1062-401: The continental United States from New York to Los Angeles in 18 hours, with only three stops. It is one of the first airliners that could profitably carry only passengers without relying on mail subsidies. In 1939, at the peak of its dominance in the airliner market, around ninety percent of airline flights on the planet were by a DC-3 or some variant. Following the war, the airliner market

1121-690: The 1933 DC-1 , was promising, and led to the DC-2 in 1934. The DC-2 was a success, but with room for improvement. The DC-3 resulted from a marathon telephone call from American Airlines CEO C. R. Smith to Donald Douglas, when Smith persuaded a reluctant Douglas to design a sleeper aircraft based on the DC-2 to replace American's Curtiss Condor II biplanes. The DC-2's cabin was 66 inches (1.7 m) wide, too narrow for side-by-side berths. Douglas agreed to go ahead with development only after Smith informed him of American's intention to purchase 20 aircraft. The new aircraft

1180-809: The 43rd aircraft off the Santa Monica production line, delivered on 2 March 1937), which appears at airshows around the United States and is owned and operated by the Flagship Detroit Foundation. The base price of a new DC-3 in 1936 was around $ 60,000–$ 80,000, and by 1960 used aircraft were available for $ 75,000. In 2023, flying DC-3s can be bought from $ 400,000-$ 700,000. As of 2024, the Basler BT-67 with additions to handle cold weather and snow runways are used in Antarctica including regularly landing at

1239-513: The DC-2 in service from Amsterdam via Batavia (now Jakarta ) to Sydney , by far the world's longest scheduled route at the time. In total, KLM bought 23 DC-3s before the war broke out in Europe. In 1941, a China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) DC-3 pressed into wartime transportation service was bombed on the ground at Suifu Airfield in China, destroying the outer right wing. The only spare available

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1298-493: The DC-3 continues to fly in active commercial and military service as of 2021, eighty-six years after the type's first flight in 1935, although the number is dwindling due to expensive maintenance and a lack of spare parts. There are small operators with DC-3s in revenue service and as cargo aircraft . Applications of the DC-3 have included passenger service, aerial spraying, freight transport, military transport, missionary flying, skydiver shuttling and sightseeing. There have been

1357-571: The DC-6B, established a reputation for straightforward engineering and reliability. Pratt & Whitney, manufacturer of the DC-6s Double Wasp engines, did not offer an effective larger engine apart from the Wasp Major , which had a reputation for poor reliability. Douglas turned to Wright Aeronautical for a more powerful engine. The Duplex-Cyclone had reliability issues of its own, and this affected

1416-482: The DC-7's service record. Carriers who had both DC-6s and DC-7s in their fleets usually replaced the newer DC-7s first once jets started to arrive. Some airlines retired their DC-7s after little more than five years of service, whereas most DC-6s lasted longer and sold more readily on the secondhand market. Basic price of a new DC-7 was around $ 823,308 (£570,000). Price of a DC-7B was around $ 982,226 (£680,000) in 1955, rising to $ 1,184,490 (£820,000) in 1957. Similarly,

1475-480: The DST was given the designation DC-3 . No prototype was built, and the first DC-3 built followed seven DSTs off the production line for delivery to American Airlines. The DC-3 and DST popularized air travel in the United States. Eastbound transcontinental flights could cross the U.S. in about 15 hours with three refueling stops, while westbound trips against the wind took 17 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours. A few years earlier, such

1534-555: The R-2800 powering late-model P-47s (and other aircraft) had a rating (experimental) of 2,800 hp (2,100 kW) on 115-grade fuel with water injection. After World War II, the engine was used in the Korean War , and surplus World War II aircraft powered by the Double Wasp served with other countries well past the Korean War, some being retired as late as the latter part of the 1960s when

1593-605: The South Pole during the austral summer. Douglas C-47-DL serial number 41-7723 is on display at Pima Air & Space Museum near Tucson , Arizona . The aircraft was previously displayed at the United States Air Force Museum . Data from McDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920 General characteristics Performance An attraction for the city Taupō in New Zealand , is a McDonald's outlet, where

1652-607: The Soviet Union as the Lisunov Li-2 (4,937 aircraft). After the war, thousands of cheap ex-military DC-3s became available for civilian use. Cubana de Aviación became the first Latin American airline to offer a scheduled service to Miami when it started its first scheduled international service from Havana in 1945 with a DC-3. Cubana used DC-3s on some domestic routes well into the 1960s. Douglas developed an improved version,

1711-514: The Super DC-3, with more power, greater cargo capacity, and an improved wing, but with surplus aircraft available for cheap, they failed to sell well in the civilian aviation market. Only five were delivered, three of them to Capital Airlines . The U.S. Navy had 100 of its early R4Ds converted to Super DC-3 standard during the early 1950s as the Douglas R4D-8/C-117D . The last U.S. Navy C-117

1770-472: The U.S. registry in 2010, they were used mainly for cargo and as aerial firefighting airtankers . Due to its engine problems , the DC-7 has not had the same longevity as the DC-6, which is still used by a number of commercial operators. The Douglas DC-7 suffered 82 incidents and accidents with a total of 714 fatalities. No DC-7s are in operation today. A small number survive on display: Data from Jane's all

1829-616: The US Navy with the designation YC-129 alongside 100 R4Ds that had been upgraded to the Super DC-3 specifications. From the early 1950s, some DC-3s were modified to use Rolls-Royce Dart engines, as in the Conroy Turbo Three . Other conversions featured Armstrong Siddeley Mamba or Pratt & Whitney PT6 A turbines . The Greenwich Aircraft Corp DC-3-TP is a conversion with an extended fuselage and with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65AR or PT6A-67R engines fitted. The Basler BT-67

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1888-463: The World's Aircraft 1959-60 General characteristics Performance Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller -driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company , which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II . It was developed as

1947-437: The aircraft were replaced. Engines grow in power with development, but a major war demands the utmost performance from engines fitted to aircraft whose life in front-line service was unlikely to exceed 50 hours flying, over a period of only a month or two. In peacetime however, the call was for reliability over a period of perhaps a dozen years, and the R-2800's reliability commended its use for long-range patrol aircraft and for

2006-777: The delivery of the Bristol Britannia . The DC-7C found its way into several other overseas airlines' fleets, including SAS , which used them on cross-polar flights to North America and Asia. The DC-7C sold better than its rival, the Lockheed L-1649A Starliner , which entered service a year later, but sales were cut short by the arrival of Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 jets in 1958–60. Starting in 1959 Douglas began converting DC-7s and DC-7Cs into DC-7F freighters to extend their useful lives. The airframes were fitted with large forward and rear freight doors and some cabin windows were removed. The predecessor DC-6 , especially

2065-490: The designation when they requested an aircraft that could fly across the United States coast-to-coast non-stop in about eight hours. (Civil Air Regulations then limited domestic flight crews to 8 hours' flight time in any 24-hour period.) Douglas was reluctant to build the aircraft until American Airlines president C. R. Smith ordered 25 at a total price of $ 40 million, thus covering Douglas' development costs. The DC-7 wing

2124-403: The eight-hour limit for one crew) and forcing rival TWA to offer a similar service with its Super Constellations . Both aircraft frequently experienced inflight engine failures, causing many flights to be diverted. Some blamed this on the need for high-power settings to meet the national schedules, causing overheating and failure of the engines' power recovery turbines. The DC-7 was followed by

2183-431: The engine could generate on takeoff and at altitude; 100 Octane fuel was used, unless otherwise noted. The R-2800 was developed and modified into a basic sequence of subtypes, "A" through "E" series, each of which indicated major internal and external modifications and improvements, such that the "E" series engines had very few parts in common with the "A". . Pratt & Whitney's internal variant identification incorporated

2242-552: The engines farther outboard; all DC-7Cs had the nacelle fuel tanks previously seen on Pan American's and South African's DC-7Bs. The fuselage, which had been extended over the DC-6Bs with a 40-inch (100 cm) plug behind the wing for the DC-7 and DC-7B, was lengthened again with a 40-inch plug ahead of the wing to give the DC-7C a total length of 112 ft 3 in (34.21 m). Since the late 1940s Pan Am and other airlines had scheduled

2301-607: The first airframe to fly (as originally designed) with the Double Wasp in its XR-2800-4 prototype version on May 29, 1940, and the first single-engine American fighter plane to exceed 400 mph (640 km/h) in level flight during October 1940. The R-2800 also powered the Corsair's naval rival, the Grumman F6F Hellcat , the US Army Air Forces' Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (which unusually, for single-engined aircraft, used

2360-451: The interests of standardization, engines were sometimes built to a joint Army-Navy contract, in which case the engines used a common numeric suffix (e.g. the -10 was used by both Army and Navy aircraft.) The suffix W e.g.: -10W denotes a sub-series modified to use water injection . The "Anti-Detonant Injection" (ADI) system injected a mixture of water and methanol into the carburetor to increase power for short periods. Several models of

2419-602: The larger 3,347.9 cu in (54.862 L) competing 18-cylinder Wright Duplex-Cyclone 's development had been started in May of that year, the 2,804.5 cu in (45.958 L) displacement R-2800 was first-flown by 1940, one year before the Duplex-Cyclone. The Double Wasp was more powerful than the world's only other modern 18-cylinder engine, the Gnome-Rhône 18L of 3,442 cu in (56.40 L). The Double Wasp

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2478-481: The late 1940s, three of which entered airline service. Total production including all military variants was 16,079. More than 400 remained in commercial service in 1998. Production was: Production of DSTs ended in mid-1941 and civilian DC-3 production ended in early 1943, although dozens of the DSTs and DC-3s ordered by airlines that were produced between 1941 and 1943 were pressed into the US military service while still on

2537-419: The pair of magnetos mounted between them on most models - and almost always prominently visible within a cowling, with the conduits for the spark plug wires emerging from the distributors' cases either directly forward or directly behind them, or on the later C-series R-2800s with the two-piece gear reduction housings, on the "outboard" sides of the distributor casings. When the R-2800 was introduced in 1939, it

2596-727: The price of a DC-7C was $ 1,155,560 (£800,000) in 1956, increasing to $ 1,343,385 (£930,000) by 1958. Cost of the DC-7F "Speedfreighter" conversion was around $ 166,112 (£115,000) per aircraft. DC-7s were used by Alitalia , American Airlines , BOAC , Braniff Airways , Caledonian Airways , Delta Air Lines , Eastern Air Lines , Flying Tigers , Japan Airlines , KLM , Mexicana de Aviacion , National Airlines , Northwest Orient , Panair do Brasil , Pan American World Airways , Riddle Airlines , Sabena , SAS , South African Airways , Swissair , Turkish Airlines , Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux , and United Airlines . Seventeen DC-7s remained on

2655-402: The production line. Military versions were produced until the end of the war in 1945. A larger, more powerful Super DC-3 was launched in 1949 to positive reviews. The civilian market was flooded with second-hand C-47s, many of which were converted to passenger and cargo versions. Only five Super DC-3s were built, and three of them were delivered for commercial use. The prototype Super DC-3 served

2714-439: The same time by a gang of milling saws, automatically guided as it fed across the head in such a way that the bottom of the grooves rose and fell to make the roots of the fins follow the contour of the head, with the elaborate process substantially increasing the surface area of the fins. The twin distributors on the Double Wasp were prominently mounted on the upper surface of the forward gear reduction housing - with one of

2773-484: The sequence in which the engines were manufactured. For example: the -18W was a "C" series engine, built from 1945, whereas the -21 was a "B" series engine, built from 1943. Until 1940 the armed forces adhered strictly to the convention that engines built for the Army Air Forces used engine model numbers with odd numeric suffixes (e.g.: -5), while those built for the US Navy used even (e.g.: -8). After 1940, however, in

2832-411: The series letter as part of the designation, for example Double Wasp S1A4-G ("A" series) and Double Wasp CB17 ("C" series). Data from White (Airlife) unless otherwise noted: The dash number for each military type (e.g.: -21 ) was allocated to identify the complete engine model in accordance with the specification under which the engine was manufactured. Thus dash numbers did not necessarily indicate

2891-515: The war effort and more than 10,000 U.S. military versions of the DC-3 were built, under the designations C-47, C-53, R4D, and Dakota . Peak production was reached in 1944, with 4,853 being delivered. The armed forces of many countries used the DC-3 and its military variants for the transport of troops, cargo, and wounded. Licensed copies of the DC-3 were built in Japan as the Showa L2D (487 aircraft); and in

2950-563: The war. Even more was coaxed from experimental models, with fan-cooled subtypes like the R-2800-57 producing 2,800 hp (2,100 kW), but in general the R-2800 was a rather highly developed powerplant right from the beginning. The R-2800 powered several types of fighters and medium bombers during the war, including the US Navy's Vought F4U Corsair , with the XF4U-1 first prototype Corsair becoming

3009-409: The way for the modern American air travel industry, which eventually replaced trains as the favored means of long-distance travel across the United States. A nonprofit group, Flagship Detroit Foundation, continues to operate the only original American Airlines Flagship DC-3 with air show and airport visits throughout the U.S. In 1936, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines received its first DC-3, which replaced

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3068-519: Was based on that of the DC-4 and DC-6, with the same span; the fuselage was 40 inches (100 cm) longer than the DC-6B . Four eighteen-cylinder Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone Turbo-Compound engines provided power. The prototype flew in May 1953 and American received their first DC-7 in November, inaugurating the first non-stop east-coast-to-west-coast service in the country (unrealistically scheduled just under

3127-492: Was capable of producing 2,000 hp (1,500 kW), for a specific power value of 0.71 hp/cu in (32 kW/L). The design of conventional air-cooled radial engines had become so scientific and systematic by then that the Double Wasp was introduced with a smaller incremental power increase than was typical of earlier engines. Nevertheless, in 1941 the power output of production models increased to 2,100 hp (1,600 kW), and to 2,400 hp (1,800 kW) late in

3186-476: Was engineered by a team led by chief engineer Arthur E. Raymond over the next two years, and the prototype DST (Douglas Sleeper Transport) first flew on December 17, 1935 (the 32nd anniversary of the Wright Brothers ' flight at Kitty Hawk) with Douglas chief test pilot Carl Cover at the controls. Its cabin was 92 in (2,300 mm) wide, and a version with 21 seats instead of the 14–16 sleeping berths of

3245-491: Was flooded with surplus transport aircraft, and the DC-3 was no longer competitive because it was smaller and slower than aircraft built during the war. It was made obsolete on main routes by more advanced types such as the Douglas DC-4 and Convair 240 , but the design proved adaptable and was still useful on less commercially demanding routes. Civilian DC-3 production ended in 1943 at 607 aircraft. Military versions, including

3304-447: Was much smaller in displacement than either of the other 18-cylinder designs, and heat dissipation was a greater problem. To enable more efficient cooling, the usual practice of casting or forging the cylinder head cooling fins that had been effective enough for other engine designs was discarded, and instead, much thinner and closer-pitched cooling fins were machined from the solid metal of the cylinder-head forging. The fins were all cut at

3363-463: Was retired July 12, 1976. The last U.S. Marine Corps C-117, serial 50835, was retired from active service during June 1982. Several remained in service with small airlines in North and South America in 2006. The United States Forest Service used the DC-3 for smoke jumping and general transportation until the last example was retired in December 2015. A number of aircraft companies attempted to design

3422-451: Was that of a smaller Douglas DC-2 in CNAC's workshops. The DC-2's right wing was removed, flown to Suifu under the belly of another CNAC DC-3, and bolted up to the damaged aircraft. After a single test flight, in which it was discovered that it pulled to the right due to the difference in wing sizes, the so-called DC-2½ was flown to safety. During World War II, many civilian DC-3s were drafted for

3481-520: Was the culmination of a development effort that began after an inquiry from Transcontinental and Western Airlines (TWA) to Donald Douglas . TWA's rival in transcontinental air service, United Airlines , was starting service with the Boeing 247 , and Boeing refused to sell any 247s to other airlines until United's order for 60 aircraft had been filled. TWA asked Douglas to design and build an aircraft that would allow TWA to compete with United. Douglas' design,

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