Vintage Propliners

[n2ize]

Does anyone have any particular favorites when it comes to vintage prop driven airliners. In particular I always liked..

In twins the DC3 and the Martin 404

In 4 engines I like the Constellation and the DC6

In turboprops I like the Lockheed Electra and the FH-227

Anyone have any particular favorites, pictures, etc. Anyone out here ever flown in or piloted any of these. And interesting anecdotal stories, etc ?

[K4TDM]

I got stuck on a little prop-driven commuter plane for the first leg of a trip from Portland, Maine to Atlanta.

I was enjoying the drone of the engines, and talking to the fellow next to me when it suddenly became obvious that someone was suffering from digestive distress.

Really wished I was in a bigger cabin!

[W4HAY]

We encountered some DC-3's back in the early 60's on what would be considered 'commuter' airlines today. I always found them fascinating, especially the one we took through a raging thunderstorm up in Ohio, and the damn roof leaked! #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

The DC-6's were a pleasure to fly in. Very comfortable, and at night the fiery yellow (on takeoff), and pale blue (at cruise) of the exhaust against the dull glow of the manifolds always made a beautiful sight.

In later years, the DeHavilland Twin Otter was a favorite, especially when the weather got rough. A bit bouncy, but you knew it would hold together.

[ka5piu]

Hello.

I really like the DC-3, if for no reason than this is the only vintage propliner that I can ever fly.
The DC-3 that is owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is not only in flying order, it is actually flown.
This thing is totally cool, a pair of AM HF radios and a DF unit are the radios.
One engine must be running to use the radios, everything runs off an alternator.
Failing that, one can extend an emergency generator that is powered by airspeed.
Bottom line, sitting on the ground, totally still, and using the radio, like you see in the movies, bogus.
But, the aircraft is really neat, one can hand crank everything if need be, everything from the engines to the landing gear to the flaps has a manual override.
And, if the flight surface assist quits, 2 pilots at the controls, and it will take 2, can manually operate.
In addition to the panel mounted fuel gauges there is a fuel sight glass in each wing.
Can you imagine the shock when you ask the passengers to move, remove an inspection panel, open a pair of petcocks, and with a flashlight, read the fual level?

[G4ZMY]

DC3 "dakota's" = Such a beautiful plane. They've got to be in the top ten of all time Classic aircraft,( not necessarily prop jobs) Concorde, Vulcan Bomber, Spitfire, Hurricane, Sunderland flying boats,B25's etc etc etc.

[K5FH]

Convair 240.

[K9STH]

Although the Douglas DC-3 (C-47, R4D, "Dakota", "Gooney Bird", etc.) is my favorite "prop job" to fly commercially there also are the Ford Trimotor ("Tin Goose" - still a couple flying primarily on excursion flights) and the Convair 600 (basically a 240 with turboprop engines - see http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=0111291&size=L (http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=0111291&size=L) for example).

The old Trans Texas Airways (more affectionaly called "Tree Top Airways" because the flights "seemed" never to get very high off the ground) which eventually became Southwest Airlines flew a lot of Convair 600 aircraft.

The DC-3 design is over 70 years old (being designed in 1935) yet there are still quite a number still flying today world wide.

Glen, K9STH

[kc0ukk]

C47 Skytrain (DC3) Tail number 273, sitting on the Da Nang runway, Aug 1966

C47 Skytrain (http://msosborn.com/year66/DaNang/pages/Aug_66_7b_adj.htm)

[KL1ZB]

The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation.

[w5klb]

Quote[/b] ]In turboprops I like the Lockheed Electra...

The Navy also used the Lockeheed Electra . They beefed up the air frame, elongated the fuselage, put a "MAD" boom on the tail and called it the P-3 Orion Sub hunter Aircraft. Not the quickest or the most glamorest plane in the fleet, but during the Cold War, it was a Russian submarine's worst nightmare!

[n2ize]

Mohawk Airways used to run a beautiful fleet of DC3's many years ago. I'll see if I can dig up some pics.

[kd5kfl]

Early 70s. Passenger on a Convair 540 owned by North Central.

http://www.sphynx.de/assets/images/cv-600-tta-2g.jpg

All the stewardesses were 4'9 - 5'2 and fine!

I'm holding a 7-UP in ice. Plane hits an air pocket. 7-UP and ice goes vertical. All the ice lands in the cup, 7-UP lands on me. Stewardess is walking past at that moment. She was laughing so hard at the expression on my face that she ended up sitting next to me clutching the seat back in front of her.

[wa4brl]

I love the DC3's, and even the slghtly smaller DC2's. #

But there's a special place in my heart for the Super Connie. #They too served in the armed forces -- as the EC-121R. #In Nam, the fighter jocks would laugh at the 121R crews because their missions lasted so long. # Her crews lovinglingly defended the lady. # They claimed the V-speeds were especially easy to learn: she took off at 120, climbed at 120, cruised at 120, descended at 120 and landed at 120 #Also, they told the fighter jocks that her most harrowing issue was electrical power failure, because the coffee would get cold and the refrigerator would go out, causing all the peanut-butter & jelly sandwiches to spoil. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

http://personalpages.tdstelme.net/~westin/batcat/ec121r00.jpg
Superconnie In Fatigues -- EC-121R

[al2n]

Here are some of the aircraft flying out of Anchorage International.

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/6614/1323224ht8.jpg

These are owned by Trans Northern. They have 4 in their fleet and fly them on a regular basis.

http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/3591/1272744pf6.jpg

Norther Air Cargo operates one of the largest fleets of DC-6 in the world. The largest fleet belongs to Alaska Cargo Express on the other side of the airport.

Lots of other vintage beauties flying out of here.

[n2ize]

Wow !! Nice to see pics of them running those beauties. And that Alaskan scenery is beatiful.

[n2ize]

Quote[/b] (wa4brl @ Aug. 25 2007,17:08)]I love the DC3's, and even the slghtly smaller DC2's. #

But there's a special place in my heart for the Super Connie. #They too served in the armed forces -- as the EC-121R. #In Nam, the fighter jocks would laugh at the 121R crews because their missions lasted so long. # Her crews lovinglingly defended the lady. # They claimed the V-speeds were especially easy to learn: she took off at 120, climbed at 120, cruised at 120, descended at 120 and landed at 120 #Also, they told the fighter jocks that her most harrowing issue was electrical power failure, because the coffee would get cold and the refrigerator would go out, causing all the peanut-butter & jelly sandwiches to spoil. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

http://personalpages.tdstelme.net/~westin/batcat/ec121r00.jpg
Superconnie In Fatigues -- EC-121R
Nice stuff !!

[k0pvw]

Though never an airliner. I have always liked the massive B-36 Peacemaker. With its huge wing span 6 rear facing prop driven engines and then the added four jet engines, It would have made a great passenger aircraft.

The Lockheed Constelations come in a very close second. Rob

[WA5KRP]

http://www.bredow-web.de/Museum_Duxford/Beech_D_17_Staggerwing/Staggerwing-5.JPG


http://maxair2air.com/WEB%20MEDIA/gunfighter/newGS/P-51-Mustang-1.jpg



WA5KRP
Texas

[WA5KRP]

WOOOPS.......you said airliners. I agree with the other folks:

http://www.airchive.com/airline%20pics/KC%20AIRLINE%20MUSEUM/Constellation1049.jpg



The Constellation was magnificent.




WA5KRP
Texas

[wa9cwx]

I think Wisconsin has a small airline that hauls freight, out of Appleton, that uses DC 3s.

They are just beautifull.

The B 36 just looks too big to be a 'plane' using props! # http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

The P 51 is the most robust looking brick, with the best excuse for a big prop and fuel consumption #I have ever seen.

If the twin tail Electra was used for passengers ( I think it was breifly in the late 30s), IT would qualify as my favorit prop passenger plane, after the DC 3.

[al2n]

Go to airliners.net and do a search for Anchorage, or Alaska. Lots of photos of vintage aircraft that are still in operation.

A number of them are the last of their kind still flying.

[WA5KRP]

Every Monday through Friday around 8:15am, a Beechcraft Model 18 Expediter flys over my house on the way to Del Rio carrying freight. #It's sound is unmistakable as it passes overhead. #It's a beauty.


http://www.alaska.faa.gov/fai/images/Aircraft/BE18.jpg


WA5KRP
Texas

[W1GUH]

Has to bet the Connie. #Never had the pleasure to fly in one, but that's one beautiful bird.

Second place would be the DC6 (or 7) that JFK used as Air Force One. #That's because it has an SX-62 in it...

JFK's SX-62 (http://www.geocities.com/w1guh/jfk.html)

You can see it at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, AZ.

The 4 engine prop I flew a lot in is the Lockheed Electra. #That, too was a great plane. #Remember when the airlines served a pack of 4 cigarettes with every meal? #Oh....remember when the airlines served meals in coach? # http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[W1GUH]

I just googled and came up with this...

Ah...when flying was glamorous and fun. Sigh. (http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/02/glamour-of-flight.html)

[WF7A]

Wifoid 1.0 and I took a ride in a 1929 Travelair, a biplane with a radial-engine and of course, an open-air cockpit. Now that was a sweet ride.

[WA5KRP]

Quote[/b] (W1GUH @ Aug. 26 2007,23:57)]I just googled and came up with this...

Ah...when flying was glamorous and fun. #Sigh. (http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/02/glamour-of-flight.html)
HOLY BLEEP........this is obscenely gorgeous:


http://farm1.static.flickr.com/155/341584348_fbdc6d62bd.jpg


Mercy!



WA5KRP
Texas

[W4HAY]

Ironic footnote, from commentaries on the Star Wars DVDs: The sounds for many of the larger spacecraft were derived from recordings made of an early Vickers multi-engine aircraft.

[W3MIV]

Quote[/b] (K5FH @ Aug. 25 2007,17:22)]Convair 240.
Aye, Fred, the Convair series were among the very best and many were converted to turboprop for continued service, especially with the USAF.

The airlines of my youth were principally piston twins, the four-motor stuff being reserved for trans- intercontinental flights. I often wonder if Myrtle Beach is still a grass strip like it was when I was in and out of there back in the late 50s and early 60s -- what a shock that turf was under the 'gear. Back before Southern grew up and went all to hell, and Allegheny was universally called "Agony Airlines."

Flew into Friendship (now BWI) in an Allegheny 340 or 440 in mid-60s. I was in the front row, just across from the door, and the Stew could not get that door to open, try as she might. She finally fled flustered to the front, and came back with the co-pilot (looking important). Still no go with the two of them twisting away, so he fled forward and came back with the pilot (looking disgusted). Finally, it took both pilots to get the release to operate and the door open.

I was the only one out. Luckily my duffle bag also was ejected, which was not always the case, even back then.

It was more fun though, and I miss walking across the tarmac to the terminal in rain, sleet or snow.

[W3MIV]

What a fun memory. Piedmont used to run a shuttle back in the fifties/sixties that left Atlanta and hit every podunk and bus depot between there and Washington DC. Flew that one many times. Seemed as soon as you got some altitude, which was never very much back then, you were on the way back down.

The DC-3 was entertaining because one had to "climb" uphill to one's seat, and the seats were anything but comfortable or accommodating. A really fat guy would be in misery. It was something that not many people today would experience. After they dropped most of the DC-3s, they went to new Fairchild F-27s (licensed from Fokker in Holland), which was a far nicer, though vastly less romantic, mount for the trip.

On many strips, the pilot would shut down only the engine on the port side (IIRC) where the passenger door was located. The other engine remained "idling" (they were turboprops), since the time at the terminal was held to the absolute minimum. I remember one time when a very matronly woman got out at Fayetteville (as I recall the civilian terminal was on the air base) the pilot did not shut the engine down at all, and her hat was blown off as she deplaned. It was not that the propwash was so severe, but that the hat was not well fastened. Remember hat pins?

[kl7aj]

We have a DC-6 or two up here in Fairbanks. Don't look like they should fly, but they keep insistin'. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[wa8rti]

#In the 50's my parents would take a Sunday drive to the Pittsburgh Airport. You could walk out onto an observation deck and look down at the people de-planeing (no enclosed walkways in those days). The TWA Connie was my favorite of all the prop passenger planes. The scariest flight I ever had was from Luxemburg to Brussels on a Foker Friendship 21. It was a twin turbo prop and the runway was rough from snow melting and refreezing. The plane rattled and banged like it was going to come apart before we got into the air. The experience sounded like someone shaking a can of marbles by you ear. Or worst, that you were in the can with the marbles.

[W5HTW]

Nice thread. How the heck did it get stuck in the "dumb political" forum?

Many flights behind me in prop jobs. Went to Europe in a C54, seats facing backward! Flew around over there in C-119s and C-130s, and to Africa in C130. Came back from Europe in a Seaboard Western L-something, with four Rolls Royce turbo prop engines. Can't recall the designation but it was a swing nose cargo/passenger aircraft - nose swung open to load cargo. Very nice aircraft.

Spent some time in C47s. Had one flight in an unusual bird, a C50 I believe it was. Conventional gear plane like the C47, but a trainer and small cargo plane. Twin engine. Six place, I think it was, been too long ago to remember. Big radials (no, not tires!) This one was used as an instrument trainer, and I got a short hop in it on a training flight. I was no pilot but I sure would have loved to have driven that old bird. But alas I rode in the back.

Had a few flights on DC6s and my very special DC4, in the Far East and SEA. And I flew an airline for the first time ever, when I was 18, in a DC7. Before that I had only flown in little things, like J3s and J5s. And not much of that.

Never flew in the EC121s or the P2Vs, but had them around me frequently. Loved to watch engine start on a B25. Never flew in one, but was on the ramp when one was fired up. A few coughs of blue smoke, spitting a few flames, and then a roar. Memory sticks with you on something like that. Nothing like those big radials.

And that reminds me. I once saw a single engine Lockheed high wing with a radial fire up. Well worth remembering. I was 12 at the time. Some images just never leave the mind.

But most of my prop time was spent on my cute little DC4 and on C130s.

Ed

[K9STH]

My senior year at Georgia Tech I flew from Atlanta to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to interview at the old RCA kinescope plant in Lancaster. The first flight was from Atlanta to Washington Dulles, on an Eastern Airlines DC-9. Frankly, this airplane (although less than 2 years old) was filthy! I don't think it had been cleaned since they bought it. Fortunately, this flight was before dawn and I didn't have to look at the unclean airplane.

At Washington Dulles I had to take a ground connection in to Washington National. There I boarded an Eastern Airlines Convair 400. Now the 400 had piston engines. They were called Convair 440 when the piston engines were changed out for turboprops. The aircraft took off just before dawn and I was sitting by a window and was right at the wing. As it got light I looked out the window and saw the starboard engine. Over half of the fasteners in the engine cowling were missing! The metal was "flapping" in the breeze! Frankly, that was definitely not encouraging!

At that time Eastern assigned its cabin crew (all female at that time) by the type of flight. The cross-country flights got the best looking and by the time you got to the "puddle jumping" flights like the one to Lancaster the flight attendants were not exactly the best looking of the bunch. To say that the two on my flight would make a freight train take a dirt road was an understatement! Of course in 1967 the discrimination laws were just not in place.

When we landed at Lancaster there was a storm and a pretty high cross wind. That landing definitely was NOT the best that I have ever experienced.

The flight out of Lancaster was to Philadelphia where I was to get a flight back to Atlanta. Now that particular flight was on an Allegheny Convair 600 and that flight was as near to perfect as possible. The flight was smooth, the aircraft was clean, and the cabin crew was not only friendly but good looking as well.

Unfortunately, things did not go well at Philadelphia. The Eastern Airlines DC-9 that I was to take back to Atlanta had "lost an engine" over Bermuda (the flight was a "connecting" flight) so there was a delay. In fact, it was like a 6 hour delay. Now, at least at that time, the Philadelphia airport was known as the "Filthy-delphia" airport. The place was absolutely filthy! It looked like there hadn't been a cleaning crew through the place for at least a couple of months. At least in the Eastern Airlines terminal.

Not only was the aircraft over 6 hours late Eastern had "over sold" the flight. Fortunately, I was "upgraded" to "first class" instead of the "tourist class" that my ticket said. At least I got a pretty good meal. However, the trim in the first class cabin was loose. That is several screws were missing and at least 2 panels were sagging. I looked at the date on the window (the date of manufacture of the glass was printed in one corner) and the aircraft was under 18 months old. The fellow sitting in the seat next to me was an executive of an electronics firm based in the Seattle area and he told me that he really didn't like to fly Eastern because of the problems. But, sometimes he didn't have a choice.

I got back to Atlanta after 2 AM when I was supposed to be back around 7 PM the previous evening.

When my wife was young she and her mother would fly from Atlanta to Los Angeles. At first the aircraft were DC-6 and later the turboprop DC-7. They always had about a 4 to 6 hour layover at Dallas Love Field. Because of the lengthy stay they always took a cab to downtown to shop at Neiman Marcus.

Glen, K9STH

[WA2ZDY]

I've been aboard a Connie at Oshkosh, but never flown. Absolutely gorgeous airplane. I still proudly wear the "Save A Connie" T-shirt I bought that day.

I'm with PVW, the B36 is just a wonder and I've always enjoyed it. My stepfather, worthless individual that he was, was a USAF mechanic during the B36 era. He got my interest piqued.

Also not an airliner but in opinion the most beautiful airplane in history is the B17. What can I say?!

[n0jaa]

I used to know someone who had a Travelair. As for airliners, I've always been partial to the DC-3 and the Super Connie. I actually had the opportunity to ride on a DC-3 a few years ago, when my previous employer, Continental Airlines, was giving free rides to its employees on their vintage DC-3.

I've also been in a military version of a Lockheed L-18 Lodestar (military version was C-60A). The Royal Air Force used many of these during WWII as paratroop transports, designating them as C-60A Lodestar II.

The plane I was on was owned by the Rocky Mountain Wing of the Commemorative Air Force and was equipped with two Pratt & Whitney R-1820's, rated at 875 horsepower each.

[G7HEU]

There's a WW2 airfield where I live. It serves as a store for the Science museum in London. There is a campaign to open it / develop the the site as a museum in it's own right. At present it's just opens a few times per year.

There's a Constellation up there - a TWA job just like the picture posted in this thread:

http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/mus/uk/u-z/wroughton.htm

[W1GUH]

Any of you in the LA vicinity can take a tour through a DC-3 at a museum at LAX. #I forget the name of the museum, but it's right off Imperial Hwy west of Sepulveda. #You can't miss it, you can see the DC-3 from the highway. #It's free, except for donations, and it's got some nice exhibits of the history of avaition and LAX.

The DC-3 was the corporate plane for Union 76, and is outfitted as such. #Two listed on the flight crew are Howard Hughes and Jack Northrop! # http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

And, for you Connie fans in NJ, there's a Connie permanently installed at the Greenwood Lake airport. #It used to be a cocktail lounge, but I don't know if it's still open. #Do you know, 'WH? #I took a brief walk through it once, but never got back. #And then there's the DC6 or 7 that was one of JFK's Air Force One's at the Pima Air and Space museum in Tucson.

I know that this is about props, but I have to mention that two of the most comfortable flights I ever had in coach were on DC-8's. #The seats seemed much more roomy that on other jets.

[n2cfj]

Loved to fly the DC 3 & 6. Liked to sit in the lounge area in the tail. First time on an Electra ended up over the wing. Talk about noise and vibration.

[n2ize]

Quote[/b] (WA5KRP @ Aug. 26 2007,06:10)]WOOOPS.......you said airliners. #I agree with the other folks:

http://www.airchive.com/airline%20pics/KC%20AIRLINE%20MUSEUM/Constellation1049.jpg



The Constellation was magnificent.




WA5KRP
Texas
That is a breathtaking image. They don't build em like that anymore folks. That was no magnificent. It was as if the hand of God built it.

[n2ize]

Back in the early 1960's a Constellation collided with a DC8 jet aircraft over staten island

The DC8 was en route to Idlewild airport. The Connie was en route to LaGuardia. The jet crashed (ironically) into the "Pillar of Fire" church in Brooklyn upon which it burst into flames. Needless to say it was a nightmare for the FDNY , NYPD and Brooklyn residents.

The Constellation was also a total loss, it fell to the ground over a military airfield.

I don't belive there were any survivors .

I do remember when I was a yyoungster hearing Constellations rumbling overhead en route to Idlewile and La Guardia. During the 1964 Worlds fair a Connie rumbling in overhead was a familiar sound and sight.

[K9STH]

The very last B-36 ever manufactured stood as a "gate guardian" at Meacham Field (the "olde" commercial airport in Fort Worth before DFW Airport - still open as a secondary airport) for quite a number of years. It was rebuilt at the General Dynamics plant in Fort Worth. General Dynamics acquired Consolidate Vultee - a.k.a. Convair - in 1953. Then in 1994 the plant was sold to Lockheed. Several years ago the B-36 was moved to Pima Air Museum near Tucson, Arizona.

See http://www.air-and-space.com/b-36%20survivors.htm

There is a museum at Meacham honoring the B-36 that is in the planning stages.

See http://www.b-36peacemakermuseum.org/

I have always liked the B-17 and have been inside several different ones including one of the Confederate Air Force (now called the Commemorative Air Force which is "politically correct" - it was still the Confederate Air Force when I was inside) at the Midland/Odessa Airport (west Texas) and the one at the Air Force Museum at Eglin Air Force Base near Fort Walton Beach, Florida. However, I have never flown in one.

Now if you ever want to fly in a "prop job" that has a glide pattern like a "brick" then you want to fly in a Republic Sea Bee. If you lose the engine (it has a single "pusher" engine) it will drop from the sky REAL soon. Go to

http://www.aviationclassifieds.com/image.php?ads_id=3511

for some photos.

Glen, K9STH