A feature on a historic American Airlines plane created by Boston Herald. Continue

The Flagship Detroit DC-3 visits Nashville

Local reporter Carlos Jasso reports on the visit of the Flagship Detroit DC-3 to the Nashville International Airpor. Continue

TASM Hosts World’s Oldest Flying DC-3 

“The Detroit,” a vintage DC-3 built by Douglas Aircraft Company in 1937 sits gleaming in the April sun on the tarmac just south of Tulsa Air & Space Museum at Tulsa International Airport waiting for a load of eager passengers representing Tulsa area press.

The Detroit is the oldest flying DC-3 in the world and is operated by the Flagship Detroit Foundation, www.FlagshipDetroit.org, a privately funded, nonprofit organization promoting the remarkable history of these renowned aviation workhorses and educating the public on the importance of these aircrafts in the history of aviation in America. The completely restored plane was here during the week leading up to Tulsa Air and Space Museum’s annual Aviator Ball, a major fundraiser for the museum. This year, the event paid tribute to the 65th anniversary of American Airlines’ Tulsa maintenance base.

The plane has logged nearly 50,000 hours in the air, and though this may sound like a lot it is really a young to middle-aged DC-3 based on the life span of all planes in the fleet. Many have been retired or are still flying with well over 100,000 hours. But even as a middle-aged plane, The Detroit has had a full life. In its youth, it was a Braniff Airlines plane flying passengers coast to coast. It once served to shuttle First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt across America on her many philanthropic quests. It fell on hard times and became a drug smuggling airplane for a short period of time in South America. It was at one time equipped for spraying fire retardant chemicals on forest fires. Finally it was rescued by American Airlines and after being restored ended up starring in a rather lack luster movie titled, “The Killer Inside Me.” Continue

Photos from Flickr

Photos from Google

Photos from Airliner.com

Photos from the Flagship Detroit’s site

Photos of the Restoration Work

Video taken from the DC-3 over Niagara Falls

Photos from Facebook

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The Flagship Detroit Foundation is a non-profit (501c-3) organization dedicated to preserving the legacy of one of the most popular aircraft in American Airlines history. The Flagship Detroit, NC-17334, is the oldest flying DC-3 in the world.

The aircraft was built in 1937 and was the 21st DC-3 that American Airlines received. American ended up operating 84 DC-3s until they went out of service in 1949. NC17334 is the oldest DC-3 still flying today. The DC-3 was purchased by the Flagship Detroit Foundation in August 2004 and was restored. Today it is flown around the country to remind people of the history of flying.

Americans's first scheduled passenger service DC-3 flight was on June 25, 1936 with the Flagship Illinois, nonstop service between Chicago and New York. Continue

Entry Into Service:

• DC3 (1936)
• DC7 (1953)
• A380 (2007)

Passengers:

• DC3 (21-32)
• DC7 (99 to 105)
• A380 (526)

A380 carries passengers equal to over 20 DC3s and 5 DC7s

Ceiling:

• DC3 (10,000 feet)
• DC7 (25,000 feet)
• A380 (43,000 feet)

A380 flies 4 times higher than DC3

Range:

• DC3 (1,025 miles)
• DC7 (5,635 miles)
• A380 (9,500 miles)

A380 has 9X longer range than DC3 and double DC7 range

Wingspan:

• DC3 (95 ft)
• DC7 (127 ft)
• A380 (261 ft) 

A380 = 2 DC7 and almost 2.5 DC3s

Length:

• DC3 (64.5 feet)
• DC7 (112 ft)
• A380 (238 ft)

A380 equals almost 4 DC-3s and 2.5 DC7s

Speed:

• DC3 (150mph)
• DC7 (406 mph)
• A380 (587mph)

A380 is almost 400% faster than DC-3