Summer Classic – All Hands and Feet in a DC-3 Dakota

In the vast range of aircraft that have graced our skies over the past 100 years, few aircraft carry the legacy and mystique that the Douglas DC-3 does. Emerging as it did as a game-changer in the 1930s, this iconic aircraft continues to capture the hearts of aviation enthusiasts worldwide both on dedicated historic flights and in some cases doing exactly the job it was designed for.   During the Summer of 1999 I was lucky enough to fly one, as part of the test pilots’ course, on warm summer’s day at RAF Boscombe Down.  It was an amazing day for me to be honest, as I had already flown the Sea King that morning, and was due to be flying the VAAC Harrier that afternoon.

The Douglas DC-3, affectionately known as the "Dakota," made its maiden flight in 1935 and was designed as a commercial airliner quickly becoming renowned for its reliability, versatility, and endurance. The aircraft we were to fly was operated by Air Atlantique, a company which used the aircraft for both pleasure flights and oil spill support work with the UK Coastguard amongst other aerial work contracts.  Based at Coventtry Airport the aircraft flew in the Boscombe Down to operate for a few days supporting the Empire Test Pilots’ School syllabus by giving students experience on a large tail dragging piston engine powered aircraft.

Our female instructor briefed us all on mass about our flights and what seemed to be a rather detailed consideration about how we were to have a go at starting the large radial engines.  It was certainly not going to be an easy aircraft to get going but, as it turned out, the briefing really hadn’t captured the true hand and memory skills required to get the Wright Cyclone engines going (it may have been Twin Wasp, I just cannot remember).  We were soon to find out as we climbed into the cockpit and saw the full spectrum of dials, gauges and levers that were all required to get things moving, so to speak.

Once we had completed all the necessary checks it was time to have a go at the start sequence, all whilst not doing any damage.  The instructor briefed the sequence of switches and levers again and  we signalled to the ground crew to start the engine, well try anyway.  I think I followed the instructions correctly and the engine sort of made the right spluttering noises with associated smoke but did not start. So everything was reset to the right conditions and on the second go, with some great verbal coaching we got the engine running.  For the second engine the instructor did the start just to get us on our way

Taxiing out to the runway was an exercise in throttle juggling and lots of big pedal movements all really to keep the aircraft going vaguely in a straight line.  I am sure we probably looked like a rather drunk crew, snaking the way out to the runway but it was definitely a lot of work.  The take-off involved quite a lot of forward yoke movement to get the tailwheel off the ground accompanied again by some big leg inputs to keep the aircraft straight. 

Up and away the the DC-3 was quite a stable platform but one which seemed to need a lot of control inputs to move the aircraft away from its straight and level conditions.  I found the banked turns probably one of the most difficulty things to control with the aircraft yoke travelling a very long way to get just a moderate rate of turn accompanied by the required in turn pedal to keep things balanced.  Getting back to wings level again required a similarly large opposite move on the yoke and really good anticipation to get the aircraft to get  on the  desired heading at the right speed and height.  All this made me admire greatly those military pilots who flew the DC3 into combat typically flying for many hours before things got exciting or they had to try and escape an enemy fighter.

It was then back to the airfield for two exercises, one a low level oil spill pass exactly over the desired point on the runway and the other some touch and go landings.  The low-level oil spill pass entailed a descent to low level (about 100ft) before coaxing the aircraft onto the runway centreline with relatively flat rudder imposed turns.  It certainly was challenging to get to the right point and was good practice for the next step, doing a landing without bouncing.

Once established on the approach with the flaps down the secret to a decent landing was flaring at the right point before levelling the the aircraft to initially land on the mainwheels.  This was no aircraft to try and do a three pointer with, given the overall mass and the fact that the tailwheel was not as robust as you would think.  The problem is us helicopter pilots are not practiced in fixed wing landings and certainly have very little on a taildragger so it was bounce time.  Whilst the coaching was great I could never really get the aircraft to the point of mainwheel touchdown at the right speed and right rate of descent without a decent bounce happening.  It was then time just to hold everything level and wait for the next contact by which time the speed reduced sufficiently for the aircraft to settle.

And then it was all over, time to taxi back in and shut down the throbbing engines and delight in the fact that I had managed to fly and land, just about, a real flying legend.  The DC3 still flies today on some really interesting activities, outside of just pleasure flying and in some very inhospitable climates (Alaska comes to mind).  Whilst it proved challenging to fly well I am sure that one quickly gets used to its quirks and can probably delight in its stability when on a long transit.