> Mention DC-3's and I recall my trip on one.
> Brian Norden

It was Christmas 1958 and I had to get back to Cape May, NJ after leave. Flight after flight was being cancelled due to snow ...My aunts brother got me on an "extra" to Philly ... a DC3. Limited visibility trip so I sat over the wing and watched the glowing orange exhaust manifolds, by then the co-pilot convinced me that oil running back over the wing was SOP, and when I didn't see it call him.

Until the Lorain, OH Ford plant cutback the air service out of Birmingham, OH would run a DC3 for priority parts pickup. Quite distinctive takeoff sound from a "country" airfield. The last time I heard the takeoff was 2002.

But for vintage give me a trimotor ...whole nuther story!


lamontdc@adelphia.net

Another reason for DC-3 longevity is its non-pressurized cabin which results in much less stress on the airframe. Pressure stress/fatigue and corrosion are the two major killers of modern airliners, and a non-pressurized airframe with no corrosion damage can theoretically be flown indefinitely.
The lifespan of a pressurized airliner is measured in cycles of pressurization/depressurization and hours flown as much as in years.

davew833@yahoo.com

> Mention DC-3's and I recall my trip on one.

In my flaming youth I spent many an hour in the left seat of DC-3s for an air freight operation out of Detroit. Many fond memories of it, the C-46 Curtiss Commando and the DC-4.

How did I get this old?

Doug


U.S. Navy 0-4-0T No. 3
dougb@sunserver.com

> But for vintage give me a trimotor ...whole
> nuther story!

Highly enjoyable when the discussions here (occasionally) go off in unexpected directions...

This one's for you Dennis!



SJHussar@aol.com

Thanks
The Stout Metal Airplane Company (Div. of Ford Motors) and pride of the Island Airlines ...one is currently under restoration, definitely a flight not to be missed!


lamontdc@adelphia.net

As long as we're on the air kick here, I thought I'd mention that TLC is re-running the Junkyard Wars "Century of Flight" special this Sunday. This is one of my favorite JYW episodes. That UK expert with his biplane's maiden flight is just priceless!

I'm also rather looking forward to the recreation of the flight at Kitty Hawk.

The South Carolina Railroad Museum, Inc.
mconrad@msmgmt.com

Yep, that's it, Eastern Express. I did some digging around online yesterday and found a few 1980's photos of Eastern Express DC-3's at www.airliners.net, and those are the same planes I saw in Boston in 1988. Presumably Eastern Express must have been a subsidiary of Eastern judging by the logo.

By the way, if you're a fan of airliners past or present, airliners.net is definitely a site worth checking out.

> Perhaps you were thinking of Eastern
> Express. I think that they were one of the
> carriers that operated under the Eastern
> Express banner.


1988 Eastern Express DC-3 photo on airliners.net
rjenkins@railfan.net

> Thanks
> The Stout Metal Airplane Company (Div. of
> Ford Motors) and pride of the Island
> Airlines ...one is currently under
> restoration, definitely a flight not to be
> missed!

Where is that happening?

SJHussar@aol.com

> Where is that happening?

I was wrong again ...there are two from Put-in-Bay being restored ... follow the link below.

It was the only time in my life that I was passed by an automobile while taking off in an aircraft! Start the port engine and we rolled down the meadow, start the starboard engine and the tail lifts, start the center engine and the whole plane lifts off, and the cars are still passing us on the highway next to the runway.


http://www.putinbayphotos.com/trimtr03/trimtr03.ht
lamontdc@adelphia.net

Actually, I think that Eastern Express was the banner under which independant carriers that fed the Eastern system operated. At that time, very few carriers owned the companies in their feeder networks.

awalker2002@comcast.net

> As long as we're on the air kick here, I
> thought I'd mention that TLC is re-running
> the Junkyard Wars "Century of
> Flight" special this Sunday. This is
> one of my favorite JYW episodes. That UK
> expert with his biplane's maiden flight is
> just priceless!

> I'm also rather looking forward to the
> recreation of the flight at Kitty Hawk.

Speaking of flying vintage airplanes, the Collings Foundation of Stow MA. conducts a yearly nationwide tour with their restored B-17 and B-24. The B-24 is one of only two flyable examples of that type in the world. At each stop they conduct tours of the aircraft and take passengers up on 1/2 hour to 1 hour flights. The proceedes from these flights help maintain the aircraft. As most of us in the rail preservation biz know how expensive it is to maintain rail equipment, the cost for maintaining a vintage aircraft are even greater.

I had the opportunity to fly in the Collings Foundation B-17 a number of years back. It was proabably one of the most memorable experiences of my life. What can you say about sitting in the plexiglass nose of the bombardier's position and buzzing the George Washington Bridge at close to 1000 feet. It is the ultimate in cab rides. It was the best $300.00 I ever spent.
Hal Reiser



Hal2415@aol.com

...would anyone care to dispute the fact that the Cleveland Southwestern & Columbus was the first electric railway to offer thru tickets for interurban to airline connections. You could buy your ticket and take the car from Public Square to Cleveland Airport and connect with your airliner (trimotor to Toledo, Chicago, Detroit). This was not a big boost to business however and when the CSW&C quit, Cleveland Railway kept the line open for a while until lack of riders closed it. After a gap of almost 60 years the "rapid to the airport" was reinvented.

lamontdc@adelphia.net