The immortal Douglas DC 3 revolutionized air transportation through what turned out to be a twist of fate. In the early 1930s, Boeing designed and built the first modern airliner, the Boeing 247. It was a sleek twin-engine airplane with retractable landing gear, and was thought at the time to be the largest aircraft that could safely be handled. United Air Lines contracted with Boeing to purchase the entire initial production run. Trans World Air Lines also wanted the new Boeing, but were informed that their competition had bought them all. Douglas Aircraft Company, however, decided to answer the specifications set down by TWA, and built the Douglas Commercial Design Number One DC 1. The DC 1 was larger than the Boeing 247, had constant speed propellers and larger engines for more power, and a deep enough fuselage that the wing spar passed under the cabin (rather than through it as on the 247!). The first DC 1 flew on July 1, 1933, but only a year later a refined model the DC 2 was in the air. The definitive airplane was the DC 3, a widened and more powerful DC 2, which first flew on December 17, 1933 (thirty years to the day since the Wright Brothers' initial flight!). While the 2 could carry 14 passengers, the 3 would haul as many sleepers, or 21 passengers. High-density seating can cram in 28 36 people. During the early production run the original 1,000 hp Wright Cyclone engines were replaced by 1,200 hp Pratt & Whitney R 1830s. This gave the DC 3s a cruise speed of 180 mph, and a maximum speed of 230 mph. A good initial rate of climb (1,200 fpm) helped the aircraft to a ceiling of 23,000 feet. Normal range was 1,500 miles, but the airplane could be coaxed to a maximum range of 2,125 miles in economy cruise mode. By the time the United States entered World War II, there were approximately 800 DC 3s flying and that was about to drastically change. The aircraft was so capable that it was drafted and became known as the C 47 (forty seventh military cargo aircraft type). Distinguished by the "double wide" door on the aft left side, the C 47s leapt from the production lines; a total of 9,123 were built during the war years! This contributed significantly to the total of 10,655 manufactured in the United States. DC 3s and C 47s served in every theatre of the war and with several foreign countries allied and axis alike. After the war, thousands of DC 3s/C 47s were surplus at very reasonable prices, and became the backbone, of a host of small airlines. They have flown over every continent, and in almost every country, in the world. Even sixty years after the first DC 3 flew; there are some things that no other airplane can do. That is why the eternal Douglas soldiers on still, even though it seems an anachronism in the jet age. The DC 3 is unquestionably the plane that revolutionized mass-air transportation in the same way that Henry Ford’s Model T did on land. The DC 3’s versatility was almost unlimited as were its names: “Gooney Bird”, “Dakota”, “Dizzy Three”, “Duck” and “Skytrain”….