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This trip came about as the 17th of December 2010 is the 75th anniversary of the first flight of the DC 3 in 1935.
To mark this milestone in the history of the DC 3, there will be a flight on DC 3 VH-TMQ from Essendon Airport in Melbourne on Friday 17th December 2010 organized by the West Beach Aviation Group and the Airmail Society of Australia.
There will be 28 aircraft enthusiasts on the flight from all over Australia, including myself and a few others from South Australia.
I expect there will be other trip reports from this milestone in other parts of the world.
A brief history of this aircraft can be found here.
http://www.travelcentre.com.au/travel/airshows/DC3/history_dc3_tmq.htm
Everyone gathered at the Australasian Jet Center Hangar at Essendon airport around 12 pm.
Nigel Daw and Chris Lloyd from the West Beach Aviation Group and Airmail Society of Australia, who organized the flight, thanked us all for coming and we all went out to the aircraft to have our photo taken as a group stood by the aircraft with a banner. We all then boarded the aircraft for a 1 pm departure.
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Crew for the day were: Captains Alan Searle (ex-TAA & Qantas), Lionel Griffiths (ex-Ansett) and the hostie Annie Duff (she was a Viscount & Electra hostie with Ansett-ANA in the early sixties). The pilots were almost as old as the DC-3 first flight.
Engines were started with a lot of smoke and the whole aircraft vibrated, it was quite warm inside the aircraft on the ground.
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Takeoff was quite noisy and once we were off the ground it was quite rough and the air vents did not give much cool air so it was still warm in the cabin.
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Windows are very low, so my neck started to get a bit sore if I was looking out the window too long, and dad felt a bit queasy from the side to side yawing of the aircraft. He was in the aisle seat and could see the clouds through the windscreen. It was this side to side motion and the lack of airflow inside that made him feel like this.
But you do have to remember this is an old plane. Mind you back in 1935 the DC 3 was probably a vast improvement over the biplane airliners.
Seats were of a modern design and legroom was not bad. Even had a tv monitor in every row that was connected to a nose camera.
Flightpath was around the Melbourne CBD, along the coast to point cook airport, where we did an orbit and back to Essendon about 1 hour later.
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Some people did go and have a look at the cockpit during the flight, but in the bumpy conditions I thought it was better to stay put, plus the aisle is very narrow.
Despite the bumpy conditions the landing was quite smooth.
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Few aircraft seen while taxiing back to the hangar.
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Once we were back on the ground and most had disembarked and gone back into the hangar for afternoon tea I had a look up front and took a few photos of the cockpit and the cabin with it not being full of people.
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
MyAviation.net:
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
After that went into the hangar with everyone else for a welcome drink of water as mentioned earlier it was very warm inside the plane.
Compared to modern aircraft the DC 3 is noisy, cramped and wallows about in the air, but great fun on a short flight like this.
So that caps off my take on the 75th anniversary of the first flight of the DC 3.
To mark this milestone in the history of the DC 3, there will be a flight on DC 3 VH-TMQ from Essendon Airport in Melbourne on Friday 17th December 2010 organized by the West Beach Aviation Group and the Airmail Society of Australia.
There will be 28 aircraft enthusiasts on the flight from all over Australia, including myself and a few others from South Australia.
I expect there will be other trip reports from this milestone in other parts of the world.
A brief history of this aircraft can be found here.
http://www.travelcentre.com.au/travel/airshows/DC3/history_dc3_tmq.htm
Everyone gathered at the Australasian Jet Center Hangar at Essendon airport around 12 pm.
Nigel Daw and Chris Lloyd from the West Beach Aviation Group and Airmail Society of Australia, who organized the flight, thanked us all for coming and we all went out to the aircraft to have our photo taken as a group stood by the aircraft with a banner. We all then boarded the aircraft for a 1 pm departure.
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Crew for the day were: Captains Alan Searle (ex-TAA & Qantas), Lionel Griffiths (ex-Ansett) and the hostie Annie Duff (she was a Viscount & Electra hostie with Ansett-ANA in the early sixties). The pilots were almost as old as the DC-3 first flight.
Engines were started with a lot of smoke and the whole aircraft vibrated, it was quite warm inside the aircraft on the ground.
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Takeoff was quite noisy and once we were off the ground it was quite rough and the air vents did not give much cool air so it was still warm in the cabin.
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Windows are very low, so my neck started to get a bit sore if I was looking out the window too long, and dad felt a bit queasy from the side to side yawing of the aircraft. He was in the aisle seat and could see the clouds through the windscreen. It was this side to side motion and the lack of airflow inside that made him feel like this.
But you do have to remember this is an old plane. Mind you back in 1935 the DC 3 was probably a vast improvement over the biplane airliners.
Seats were of a modern design and legroom was not bad. Even had a tv monitor in every row that was connected to a nose camera.
Flightpath was around the Melbourne CBD, along the coast to point cook airport, where we did an orbit and back to Essendon about 1 hour later.
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Some people did go and have a look at the cockpit during the flight, but in the bumpy conditions I thought it was better to stay put, plus the aisle is very narrow.
Despite the bumpy conditions the landing was quite smooth.
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Few aircraft seen while taxiing back to the hangar.
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Once we were back on the ground and most had disembarked and gone back into the hangar for afternoon tea I had a look up front and took a few photos of the cockpit and the cabin with it not being full of people.
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
Photographer © Ryan Hothersall
After that went into the hangar with everyone else for a welcome drink of water as mentioned earlier it was very warm inside the plane.
Compared to modern aircraft the DC 3 is noisy, cramped and wallows about in the air, but great fun on a short flight like this.
So that caps off my take on the 75th anniversary of the first flight of the DC 3.
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