70 year old airplanes, Still in service

[DrLeftover]

10 October 2013

Log in to a live flight-track website and follow BFL168 as it climbs to 6,000ft and cruises at 155 mph (250 kph) just south of the Arctic Circle. This is a scheduled flight from Yellowknife to Hay River in the Northwest Territories of Canada. You will see that the 45-minute trip, operated by Buffalo Airways, is nearly always on time. What might surprise you is the type of aircraft that makes this daily journey in what can be decidedly harsh conditions. No, not some smart new jet equipped with every latest safety device and digital gizmo, but a 28-seat Douglas DC-3 (twin-piston).

What this means is that the very youngest of the aircraft operated by Buffalo Airways on flight 168 are two years shy of their 70th birthday. And, if all goes to plan, the legendary DC-3 will be the first airliner to fly into its second century.

Altogether about 16,000 American, Russian and Japanese-built Douglas DC-3s, and also C-47 Skytrains, ‘Dakotas’, Lisunov Li-2s, and Showa and Nakajima L2Ds – the near identical military versions built in the 1940s – took to the air from December 1935. Around 2,000 fly today.

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20131009-dc3-still-flying-at-70

 

[Nebulous]

That is one impressive solid looking plane!

 

[Raven]

beautiful plane.

 

[Evil Eye]

Don't fix it if it ain't broke.

Impressive really.

 

[Tyler]

Looks Awesome.
I like a lot of older things better than new stuff.