DC3s More Stories.
Many thanks to all of you who answered my query about elevator locks on DC3s / C47s. Reading through the replies reminded me of a DC3 flight I did just over forty years ago.
I was flying from Westport to Wellington in New Zealand when the aircraft encountered what I would describe as severe turbelence.
The N.A.C., D.C.3 was bucking around so much, that the stewardess in her crew seat was throwing up, and the lady sitting next to me started to pray. In between her tears and appeals to the almighty , she asked me if I could hold her baby as she thought it was in danger of being torn from her arms. Luckily, the baby was wrapped in several blankets and I was able to grip the little bundle understanding the responsibility that had been literally placed in my lap.
Once out over the Cooke Strait, the turbulence subsided and I was able to hand the baby back to its much relieved mother.
The Stewardess looked deathly white for the remainder of the flight, but like a true professional regained her composure before we landed.
Ah! you might say, what about the infant / baby extension seat belts? Well to be honest, I don't remember seeing any.
The next DC3 flight I did (Mt., Cooke Airlines) was even stranger.