Yeah connie that was a great story, wasn't it? Joe McElrea once won a DC-3 in a poker game. He had it on long-term lease to Northern Wings and when he left the lease was terminated and he took it with him.
Years ago Pacific Western used the DC-3 on some of their scheds on the West Coast on Vancouver Island. The co-pilots were mostly old bushwackers off the singles who'd been there, done that and had the t-shirts. One day between Vancouver and Campbell River, the flight ran into some hefty ice on the let down. To add to the fun they lost an engine. The only approach in Campbell River was an ADF. They missed, and there was no question about going elsewhere because of the ice. On the missed approach, their
good engine coughed a few times and the FSS operator asked them if they were aware their engine was backfiring. The copilot, one of the bushwackers, nonchalantly informed the FSS guy that "A farting horse is a working horse." They flew the airplane down to the ground on the second approach, and landed about halfway down the runway. Just before they went off the end the Captain deliberately groundlooped to avoid running into a ditch, and wiped the gear off the airplane. By the time they slid to a stop on the belly, the copilot had done the post crash check and was getting out of his seat to assist the stew to get the pax out. Almost as an afterthought, he looked at the Captain and said, "You know, we must really discuss those
landings of yours!"
