Pictures of my old DC-3.

[con-pilot]

I finally got one of those film scanners that allows me to transfer slides onto my computer. Here are some pictures of the DC-3 I use to fly. It was the lowest time DC-3 in the world when we got the aircraft. I got the DC-3 in 1981, it had less than 3,000 hours total time. It had been purchased by the Wrigley family (of the chewing gum fame) and had been based on Catalina Island most of its life. The aircraft was built in the Douglas Plant as a C-47 in 1944 at Oklahoma City which is now Tinker AFB. Sorry, but I cannot find the serial number, I have it in storage somewhere, but where I don't have a clue.

The last I heard the DC-3 was in Europe flying tourists either in Sweden or Norway. Perhaps some one here knows the fate of this fine old lady?
Anyway, here are a exterior and an interior pictures.





A couple of more interior shots.

Front to back of cabin.



Wrigley Family headrest cover.



We had the aircraft for about three years and I flew it a little over 300 hours.

[Liffy 1M]

What was the registration? That would make it easy to trace.

[stevef]

Plush cabin, unlike most of the working DC3s/C47s. One of the very few aircraft types I enjoyed working on.

[con-pilot]

Steve, believe it or not that was the original interior installed in 1947 (the year I was born), only the cabin carpet had been changed.

Liffy, I wish I could remember the registration number, unfortunately my logbooks were stolen by a ex-employee, I can't prove she stole my logbooks, however, the coincidence is just too strong. So I still have to dig out the old records. I am hoping that the fact that it is the lowest total time DC-3 still flying will ring a bell in someone's mind.

(If it is still flying that is. )

[Newforest]

Still searching, but this could be a likely candidate, SE-CFP c/n 13883?
http://www.airliners.net/open.file?i...ext_id=1273639

[stevef]

SE-CFP seems to have spent much of its life registered in Scandinavia as well as the Air Force, Newforest.
There's not a lot of web information on the Wrigley family aircraft, other than she was sold in 1985 with 3200 hrs after over 30 years with them and again up for sale in 2004. I've pasted this from Propliners ( http://www.propliners.com/ ):

Just saw over at ****** (I removed the commercial link) that as of this past June (2004) P.K. Wrigley's beautiful DC-3 went on the sale block. I was aboard this aircraft back in the '70's where it was hangared on Catalina Island. Only about 34 hundred hours on it since modified from a C-47 to a DC-3. Probably the best kept DC-3 in the world. Oh, for those of you too young to know, Mr. Wrigley was the man who made chewing gum popular.

There was no valid link to the aircraft unfortunately so we're still no wiser as to the registration.

[con-pilot]

Just saw over at ****** (I removed the commercial link) that as of this past June (2004) P.K. Wrigley's beautiful DC-3 went on the sale block. I was aboard this aircraft back in the '70's where it was hangared on Catalina Island. Only about 34 hundred hours on it since modified from a C-47 to a DC-3. Probably the best kept DC-3 in the world. Oh, for those of you too young to know, Mr. Wrigley was the man who made chewing gum popular.

That is her Steve, would you please PM me the link. I would greatly appreciate it, thank you.

On the maintenance side, according to the aircraft log books the engines were changed every 500 hours. Also, on a couple of occasions we borrowed a DC-3 from another owner and had some paired flights, not what you would call formation flights, and our DC-3 would run off and leave the other one with both aircraft at the same power settings.

By the way, the primary flight instruments were Collins FD-102 flight directors.

Now a funny story about one of my first training flights in the aircraft. When the instrument panel was modified the flap position indicator was relocated to where it was vertical on the left side of the cockpit by the pilot's left leg. Now the interesting thing was that when the flaps were retracted the pointer was at the bottom of the indicator (down) and when the flaps were full down the pointer was at the top of the indicator (up).

Being the dutiful trainee pilot I performed a pre-exterior cockpit check, which required lower the flaps to full down for a visual inspection. After I completed the exterior pre-flight I met the IP in the cockpit and we started the pre-start checklist. When he read off "Flap handle neutral" I looked at the flap indicator, saw the pointer at the top (up, which really meant full down) and replied "Flaps up".

I think you all can figured out the rest. We taxied, lined up on the runway, I applied takeoff power and the tail came up immediately. I had to really pull hard to get airborne, added a bunch of up trim and we slowly climbed out. Very slowly climbed out. We were not climbing very fast, the airspeed was around 90 some knots and the cylinder head temps were going up rapidly. I only flown the DC-3 a couple of times earlier, but knew this could not be correct.

I kept looking around trying to figure out what the hell was wrong. Looked at the flap positron indicator and it hit me. Oh My God! The flaps were full down. I reached over, grabbed the flap handle and pulled it up. That old DC-3 jumped like I had fired off JATO bottles. The airspeed shot up, rate of climb doubled and the temps went way down.

The IP looked at me and said, "Well, we seemed to have learned something here haven't we."

Never made that mistake again.

(Thank God we didn't lose an engine. )

[Hotel Tango]

I believe it's N64784 c/n 25482. Last reported and photographed at Bakersfield CA in August 2001. She was also photographed in Sion, Switzerland in 1989 and Amsterdam in 1990. Paint scheme matches that above.

P.S. Took nearly an hour's research to find her i/d. You owe me a beer Con-pilot

[con-pilot]

You owe me a beer Con-pilot

What brand and how many?

That's her.

[Newforest]

Here is a photo and registration details.
http://www.airliners.net/open.file?i...0825233&size=L
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinqu...4&cmndfind.y=9

[PLovett]

con

Having been located on Catalina Island for much of its life wasn't corrosion a problem or wasn't it ever allowed on what was a much cared for aircraft?

[stevef]

Engines changed after 500 hours! That's hardly enough time to develop proper oil leaks.
Normal R1830 TBO is 1200 hours if I remember correctly (one hour per horsepower).

[con-pilot]

Having been located on Catalina Island for much of its life wasn't corrosion a problem or wasn't it ever allowed on what was a much cared for aircraft?

While we owned the aircraft we had to do a major wing spar modification that required that the wings be removed from the aircraft; which is a long story in itself. Seeing as how the aircraft was to be taken apart so much I had the company doing the mod to perform a intensive corrosion inspection on the airframe. They found shockingly little corrosion, just some small areas on the fuel tanks that were treated and repainted.

There was no doubt that the aircraft was very well maintained while the Wrigley's and ourselves owned the aircraft. We did not operate the aircraft that much, around 300 hours in a little over 3 years, but I made sure the engines were ran every week and we flew it once a month, if just around the pattern.

Sadly it appears that the aircraft is not is such good shape today from some pictures I found on her in Bakersfield, California. I'm off line right now, when I get back on the internet I'll post the link.

Oh, one other point, in my experience corrosion is not the problem in Southern California as it is in Florida and the Gulf Coast. Why, I don't have a clue.

[con-pilot]

Okay, back up now.

Thanks to Hotel Tango here is a link to the latest picture of her.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file?i...next_id=NEXTID

I would have never let her get into such a sad condition. Oil stains everywhere, flaps filithy and look at the oil stains on the oil cooler inlets, shame really.

[mupepe]

this one wear DRC registration and still in flying condition/based in Sweden.
it's in perfect condition,privately owned, this ship flew also in Africa for some times.

[stevef]

9Q-CUK in Africa

That would be Air Kasai/Transporte Aerien Zairoise, based at N'dolo near Kinshasa. I worked for them in 93-94, there were about five C47s and a pair of An2s.

[con-pilot]

Now that is a fine looking aircraft mupepe.

[WHBM]

Here's the history of 25482 written up in the 1980s.

Built for USAF in July 1944 as 43-48221, also spent a very short time as KG805 for the RAF. Sold at end of 1945, to Wrigley as NC67484 April 1946, lasted there for 32 years. To Naval Air Museum Pensacola 1978 (doesn't seem to accord with above records), then to Galaxy Aviation, Oklahoma in 1980.

[con-pilot]

then to Galaxy Aviation, Oklahoma in 1980.

That would have been me. I really didn't know about the RAF bit. I was under the impression that it was USAAF-Wrigley-NAS Pensacola-us then off to Switzerland.

When the Senior Mr. Wrigley died he left the DC-3 to the Naval Air Museum at Pensacola, the Navy did not want the aircraft and placed it for sale and we bought the DC-3 from a aircraft broker.

[Stationair8]

Con-pilot,
The old lady would be still under factory warranty.