Originally Posted by
Judd
That all sounds very dramatic for a DC3 and may I say a little exaggerated? If you have "used everything" then to get the tail up during the early part of the take off run in a standard DC3 it suggests maybe the Centre of Gravity was a problem. The DC3 is a normal tail wheel aircraft with normal take off and landing characteristics. No unusual control forces are needed and the rudder is effective early. We never had to use ailerons for directional control (apart from appropriate aileron into a crosswind) and certainly never use "aggressive" differential power.
Are you sure you are not talking about flying a DC3 Microsoft simulator? Never heard of using the elevator trim to get the tail up. The elevator trim is useless at low speeds anyway. By what you have described is not an average DC3 handling at all. Of course if you have allowed the aircraft to gather momentum in a large swing, that suggests slow pilot reaction to prevent any initial swing from trying to force the tail up. Once you allow that to happen due poor flying ability, then all bets are off in terms of getting the aircraft to straighten up again and you may even have to resort to dabs of appropriate brake pedal to prevent further yaw on the roll. Not trying to rubbish your description but something not quite right IMHO.
If you don't believe my story above then you probably think that winds in St. Thomas, USVI cannot possibly be reported as "wind 22 knots gusting to 34, all quadrants" when coming in to land and it is a pretty wild ride that DOES take everything you have including near full aileron deflections on takeoff and landing. And yes, in a DC-3 loaded with 30 passengers, 600 lbs baggage aft and 400 lbs baggage forward it IS hard to keep the tail up when you want it up and yes, some guys roll the trim forward as they accelerate and roll it back once the tail is up. When it is gusty you manhandle the controls, there is nothing gentle about it.
Granted, it is calm in this video but that is deceiving, too. A light crosswind is easier to handle than no wind at all since the airplane is pushed to one side and there is no question about which way to correct. In calm conditions it is easier to swing from side to side.
Not Microsoft simulator but 1600 hrs in DC-3s from 1977 to 1979 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Air Caribbean. 5 airplanes. They all flew different. "
No unusual control forces are needed". Hmmm, not really, did you ever fly one at gross wight in gusty conditions? Some had light controls and others had super heavy controls and were pretty tough to handle. Some flew great on one engine with a load in the back, others were pigs and would barely fly with the good engine at METO power and lightly loaded. We had P&W powered and Wright Powered. We had left door DC-3's and right door DC-3's. My memory is pretty good...