DC3 Dakota on floats - wonderful scenes
 

DC3 on floats. None of this "Area of Responsibility" stuff you have in Boeing and Airbus. The captain does the lot including starting while the co-pilot stands by for gear(?) and flaps and makes the radio calls. Was forever thus and it worked well.

A DC-3 on floats! Old video but what a machine!

Folsom's DC-3 on floats - YouTube

Not forever thus Centaurus. Flying the hump during WWII they were flown solo for a period of time - from the RHS, since it was easier to reach the cowl flap switches if I recall.

I am sure Bruce Towers would have been able to have a go... single pilot and a few beers in.

I never knew that, Megan. What a good idea if solo flying since from the RH seat you could also comfortably reach the landing gear main lever, landing gear latch lever and the manually operated hydraulic hand pump and even the starboard feathering button. Pity about the port feathering button, though:E

The airplane has since been taken off floats I believe, and has either been sold or mothballed. Pity.

A brief anecdote. Back in the 1960's the elder Folsom, who started the company, used to own an absolutely cherry 1953 Cessna 180 on floats. He also used to visit an Atlantic salmon fishing lodge on some river north of Goose Bay, Labrador, and on his way from Greenville to Goose he'd stop at our seaplane base for fuel and customs. One of our refuellers was an older gentleman, a somewhat crotchety chap. The procedure for refueling a 180 on floats was to have one guy clamber up onto the wing then have someone pass him up the hose. To refuel the other side without turning the airplane around - an impossibility at a busy dock - the guy on the wing simply walked across the wing pulling the hose behind him, being very careful not to drag it over the windshield. One day the old and crochety one was about to refuel Mr. Folsom's pride and joy when Folsom asked him if he could refuel without climbing up on the wing. The old guy stared at Folsom for a second and asked "What the @#$% do you think I am, a bird?"

I am old enough to have flown with the "gear up, shutup" school of Aircraft Captains, the only good thing I got from that was a lesson on how not to be a good captain.

In my airplane I use my copilot because a good 2 crew operation will always be better than a Captain and a passenger......

Uhhhh-huh, worked great. Like in Tenerife, the captain was doing it all. Didn't need the co-pilot, who was still copying an ATC clearance, what the heck, it wasn't time to pull the gear up, so who cares if the guy in the RHS was a part of the crew? Didn't need to listen to the flight engineer who was busy trying to call his attention to the fact that they didn't have take off clearance and there was another 747 on the runway.

Yep, good old-school captain, doin' it all by himself, including killing 583 people, pretty much all by himself. Mainly, because he *was* doing it all by himself. Those were the days.

Some people just don't have a sense of humour, do they Centaurus? BTW, great video! :D

well, apologies if I missed that it was supposed to be tongue-in-cheek (If it in fact was) but I've heard plenty of guys from his era say the identical thing with 100% sincerity, so It's kind of hard to tell that it was intended as a joke, and not too improbable that it wasn't.

Area of Responsibility and CRM are two totally different concepts, but I suppose you knew that... :ok:

"Don't touch my stuff" ;)

They were modified and flown single pilot in NZ on Ag Ops. What a topdressing aircraft!!!!!

I am sure Bruce Towers would have been able to have a go

A name from long ago .. what is the lad doing these days ?

Got it in one:ok: