Our throw back prop aircraft MIA LAX (DC-3 Flagship Knoxville)
Nov 1, 18, 2:54 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2007
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Our throw back prop aircraft MIA LAX (DC-3 Flagship Knoxville)
Apparently this is the aircraft at our gate for our MIA LAX flight! Glad we were upgraded!
Last edited by MarJon; Nov 1, 18 at 3:57 pm
Nov 1, 18, 3:42 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2012
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Posts: 6,271
Omg that is awesome!!
727s were on their way out by the time I was old enough to truly understand the beauty of aviation and the nuances, so never had a chance to see any of these classics ever.
727s were on their way out by the time I was old enough to truly understand the beauty of aviation and the nuances, so never had a chance to see any of these classics ever.
Nov 1, 18, 7:58 pm
#10
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 263
Ahh. The golden age of aviation. A propeller plane from MIA to LAX "direct" with six stops in between. Thats a total of 7 PDBs along the way plus a few meals. Memories of the sound of the beautiful props while we sat in our comfortable suits and ties, and gleefully enjoyed the in-flight entertainment of having to talk to each other for hours on end.
Last edited by dc10forlife; Nov 1, 18 at 8:10 pm
Nov 1, 18, 10:05 pm
#12
Moderator: American AAdvantage, TAP, Mexico, Technical Support and Feedback, and The Suggestion Box
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Wow! Flagship Knoxville! This aircraft is actually an early Douglas DST (Douglas Sleeper Transport) variant of the DC-3, with the door on the starboard side. One of the few - C-47s and most DC-3s had doors on the port side. And you’ll notice we always board from the port side.
Trivia about those sides: Starboard - named by the Norsemen / Vikings, who put the steer board (stjόrnborði in ancient Norse, and in old English stéor, meaning "steer" and bord meaning "the side of a boat") on the right side of the ship because the sailors were mostly right handed, and as you didn’t want to mash the steering oar the left side was the side that tied up in port. Port side was originally called larboard, “Lade” or “lar” meaning load and “bord” meaning side - when calling out steering directions in stormy weather starboard and larboard were too similar, so it became port side.
That was over 1,000 years ago, yet our airports and aircraft today are designed to embark and disembark passengers from the port side. The DC-3 started out with starboard boarding doors, but soon switched to port - and nearly every commercial aircraft follows the old Viking convention.
I cut my teeth on DC-3s, MEX-MTY-SAT and MEX-MTY-ELP-TUS, where we overnighted to proceed TUS-PHX-Los Angeles Mines Field, now LAX. Our family owned and operated an airline, Aerolineas Latinoamericanas / ALA, and sometimes I flew MEX-MTY-ELP-PHX-LGB when a C-47 / DC-3 went to Douglas for overhaul. When we ultimatly sold the -3s to Aeroméxico, I watched them fly over our house as they flew the MEX-ACA shuttle service for years. I can detect those twin rotaries anywhere, anytime they roar. I’ve been chasing these birds all my life; I love them. Leaky cockpit, loud and vibrating, unpressurized, flying through the weather because there was no way to fly above it.
The first AA jet was the BAC-111, and though it was smaller than a DC-3, it felt awesomely fast and high tech after the Douglas -3, -6 and -7s, Convair Metros, etc. I’ve flown from BAC-111 through Comet and Concorde to 787s and A380. I e flown in the DH Dragon Rapide - in an emergency you could pribably kivk your way out through the doped fabric - and restored AA Ford TriMotor and Stinson SM-6000-B trimotor.
But for nostalgia gimme the DC-3 “Gooney Bird” or “Dakota” any time. (I occasionally visit NC21798 aka Flagship Knoxville in her home at the C. R. Smith museum at DFW. Yes, Lady JDiver knows.)
Trivia about those sides: Starboard - named by the Norsemen / Vikings, who put the steer board (stjόrnborði in ancient Norse, and in old English stéor, meaning "steer" and bord meaning "the side of a boat") on the right side of the ship because the sailors were mostly right handed, and as you didn’t want to mash the steering oar the left side was the side that tied up in port. Port side was originally called larboard, “Lade” or “lar” meaning load and “bord” meaning side - when calling out steering directions in stormy weather starboard and larboard were too similar, so it became port side.
That was over 1,000 years ago, yet our airports and aircraft today are designed to embark and disembark passengers from the port side. The DC-3 started out with starboard boarding doors, but soon switched to port - and nearly every commercial aircraft follows the old Viking convention.
I cut my teeth on DC-3s, MEX-MTY-SAT and MEX-MTY-ELP-TUS, where we overnighted to proceed TUS-PHX-Los Angeles Mines Field, now LAX. Our family owned and operated an airline, Aerolineas Latinoamericanas / ALA, and sometimes I flew MEX-MTY-ELP-PHX-LGB when a C-47 / DC-3 went to Douglas for overhaul. When we ultimatly sold the -3s to Aeroméxico, I watched them fly over our house as they flew the MEX-ACA shuttle service for years. I can detect those twin rotaries anywhere, anytime they roar. I’ve been chasing these birds all my life; I love them. Leaky cockpit, loud and vibrating, unpressurized, flying through the weather because there was no way to fly above it.
The first AA jet was the BAC-111, and though it was smaller than a DC-3, it felt awesomely fast and high tech after the Douglas -3, -6 and -7s, Convair Metros, etc. I’ve flown from BAC-111 through Comet and Concorde to 787s and A380. I e flown in the DH Dragon Rapide - in an emergency you could pribably kivk your way out through the doped fabric - and restored AA Ford TriMotor and Stinson SM-6000-B trimotor.
But for nostalgia gimme the DC-3 “Gooney Bird” or “Dakota” any time. (I occasionally visit NC21798 aka Flagship Knoxville in her home at the C. R. Smith museum at DFW. Yes, Lady JDiver knows.)
Last edited by JDiver; Nov 1, 18 at 10:13 pm
Nov 2, 18, 6:38 am
#13
Fontaine d'honneur du Flyertalk
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Alicante. Spain
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My husband and I flew on one of those DC-3s about 11 years ago on one of those nostalgia special flights. I had always wanted to, but they are now forbidden from carrying passengers in Europe because all aircraft have to be equipped with oxygen masks. As the aircraft never flies high enough, that is of course a nonsense.
Most surprising that I have seen was about 20 years ago when a JU-52 took off from LHR. Everyone turned and looked as it made such an individual sound,
Most surprising that I have seen was about 20 years ago when a JU-52 took off from LHR. Everyone turned and looked as it made such an individual sound,
Nov 2, 18, 6:50 am
#14
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: ATL
Posts: 788
Originally Posted by cs57
PBA/Naples Airlines ran DC-3s from TPA to APF (Naples) and APF to MIA in the 1970s. What fun that was!
Bad weather forced us to divert to MIA on way back from the Keys. Pretty sure we were the last plane in before MIA closed due to weather. It was really rough, but I felt safe it that plane.
