The DC3

[smart142 605]

Today I was lucky enough to fulfill a life time dream.

I got to fly in a restored DC3 that was originally built in 1939. It has seen 170 engine changes!

 

This was a birthday present from my wife Liz.. The flight was offered from the Canadian Warplane museum near Hamilton. We had a 30 min flight that was AWESOME!!! 

 

This was very special for me because my father was a Canadian Army paratrooper and jumped out of this type of aircraft from 1946 - 1960

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-3

[Willys 747]

It's not quite the same as a typical airliner we travel across the pond in is it...lol. I have flown in them in the far north Churchill had them way way back when i was in grade 10. Whatever year that was, we went up to Rankin Inlet, Eskimo Point, Baker's Lake to coach the Eskimo school kids badminton for 10 days flying from village to villahe.....the initial flight up from Churchill was in a DC3, in a blinding blizzard.....the pilot kept turning around to us siting in canvas chairs on one side and snow mobiles and live stock on the other chickens in creates if I remember right???  He couldn't see where he was going and kept dropping to get under the storm, all of a sudden he gunned it and turned the aircraft up to the sky! We were feet from the broken ice all jagged and such...he finally gave up and turned back after 2 hours of this! Worst flight I have ever been on, but the plane was amazing, I would never have thought you could send a plane straight up at a 90 degree angle like that without snapping the wings off so to speak. Amazing.  We flew at least 3 flights in a DC3.

Glad you enjoyed the flight....must have been great.

[darren 192]

C-GDAK? Congratulations! The unique experiences offered there are unlike any others. 

 

I volunteered at CWHM for about three years, and loved it. The DC-3 was the first plane I got to go up in there. (Ramp crew sometimes get to be “self-loading ballast” on flights that have empty seats.)

 

It was a dream of mine to fly on a DC-3 too, just because of the incredible history and durability of these planes. True aviation icons. Being able to say I’ve flown on a plane older than my dad is a curious distinction! 😄

 

But it was a little like being on a school bus with wings.