Any former DC-3 freightdogs out there?

[Waldom]

Morry's flying circus; Wyman Pilot Service.

 

[spotterpilot]

I was a DC3 captain with PBA when I was furloughed during the Texas Air fiasco of the late 1980's. I was looking at the employment section of Trade-a-Plane and the next thing I knew I was hired as DC3 captain for a small cargo company called Century airlines out of Pontiac MI. During takeoff of the 2nd leg of IOE, at the first power reduction (200') , the #2 eng blew a cylinder completely off. The eng obviously ran rough but this was not the first time for me so I did the normal thing - pulled the throttle back to smooth the engine out, do the eng out flow and evaluate. I sent the chief pilot who had been in the jumpseat back to see how much oil was coming out of the eng. Just after my new boss left the cockpit the eng started surging badly as we began to enter the cloud bases. As we had encountered mod icing on the approach only an hour earlier, the last thing I wanted to do was play in the ice on one engine in the middle of the night so I pushed the nose over a bit, looked over my left shoulder and could just see the airport all lit up as pretty as a picture. I headed back to the field visually as we feathered and shutdown the engine. The copilot did an excellent job and we even completed a before landing checklist. I kept the speed up on rollout and was able to taxi the airplane clear of all taxiways and was able to get it back to the ramp from where we had started (no small feat in itself on 1 eng). Somewhere during the approach the CP returned to the cockpit. After we completed the shutdown checklist I was feeling pretty good about everything and was somewhat shocked when the CP started yelling at me about why I had returned to the field and that there were no services to change an engine ect...My reply was that if I was the CP and one of my pilots had tried to go elsewhere(closest suitable 60 mi away), or had asked me where to go then I would fire them on the spot! I worked there for 6 months before being recalled and had several other harrowing experiences, one very similar to the previous ice story where I was scraping the windshield with an old car ashtrayon an ILS once at 800' and again at 400' because the alcohol tubes froze over! I admit that I was scared a few times but I do miss wrestling the old dinosaur!

 

[727C47]

i think i bought my Jepps from you when you left Century.

 

[727C47]

Morry's flying circus; Wyman Pilot Service.

Old Boys !

 

[spotterpilot]

That was a heavy load and was happy not to have to update them anymore! Hope they treated you as good as they did me.

 

[Waldom]

Old Boys !

Yup, I'm 51 and have earned every gray hair on my head.

 

[727C47]

That was a heavy load and was happy not to have to update them anymore! Hope they treated you as good as they did me.

yeah,they did, got my type and ATP in the DC-3,with Clark,and Joe. Got a graduate level education, flying those Great Lake winters.

 

[freightdogfred]

It sure was.

Back on the beaches in Alaska I was on an adrenaline buzz all the time.

In the islands flying the -3 I was alsways fighting to get my pay check.

Anybody else flew for Aero Virging Islands in St. Thomas?

Of for Winky's Flying Circus in Alaska?

1986- 1987.....Them were the days.

My old buddy Keith LaFever...But he died in a DC-4 that ditched in Louisiana.

He took off from BQN on 1 engine, used the whole strip. (Don't ask how I know)

 

[CSY Mon]

My old buddy Keith LaFever...But he died in a DC-4 that ditched in Louisiana.

Keith was also my old buddy.
We drank a bunch of beers together, and I even let him sail my boat while I was in Alaska hauling fish.

(My 44' liveaboard boat, not a dinghy)

I think he died in a DC-6 crash in Louisiana, not a DC-4..?

They all drowned in the cockpit.

RIP Keith.

 

[pin727]

I still fly the galant lady of the sky down here in PR , and I have a ton of war stories about her...
in 1 yr I shot down 12 engine...engine failure's I had a gear colaps(sp ) in St tomas, very cool story, emergency door flew out in cruise flight, one of the cowlings flew out on flight.... tons of good emergency's and stories
first paying job and good memories, I guess thats why I still fly it ...it is also for fun!!!!!

 

[Waldom]

Cool, pin727. We see you folks all the time at SJU. Bet the folks at Douglas never thought their airplanes would still be out there making money every day 70 years after they were built!

 

[727C47]

i know, 1/2 of our old DC-3 fleet is in San Juan,the other half is split between Alaska,and Fla. great to see the old girls still earning their keep.

 

[727C47]

anybody out there fly the piston convair? another wonderful ship !

 

[Donsa320]

anybody out there fly the piston convair? another wonderful ship !

7500 hrs in the 340/440 for North Central. I really liked the piston CV better than the CV580. Low noise level and light on the controls. There was never a more busy pilot in the world than a piston Convair co-pilot in icing conditions with the augmenter vanes at 90 degrees and carburetor heat on. Between the carb heat and the cowl flaps it was like playing an organ.

 

[727C47]

i agree ,i have 1333 hrs in the Convair 340,logged between '97-'99 with contract air cargo out of ptk,michigan. loved those water injected 2800's,and the wonderful music they made on take-off. i too liked the 340 better than the 580 which handled like a truck in comparison.

 

[Donsa320]

i agree ,i have 1333 hrs in the Convair 340,logged between '97-'99 with contract air cargo out of ptk,michigan. loved those water injected 2800's,and the wonderful music they made on take-off. i too liked the 340 better than the 580 which handled like a truck in comparison.

You are lucky to have had the chance to fly them at that late date. My last piston Convair flight was in 1968 but I can still hear and feel them in my imagination. They were my second airline captaincy. Sweet dreams.

 

[727C47]

my second captaincy too, unfortunately the round motored Convairs are now extremely rare,less than 20 active worldwide, a sweet ship,no vices.

 

[wildbill]

While on the subject of round motors. What ever happened to all of the Martin 404,s.. Any old heads from Southern Airways remember those.

 

[mcjohn]

They're still flying a Convair out of OPF.

 

[727C47]

a 240,340.or a 440?

 

[727C47]

havn't seen a piston CV in the DTW area,except for my old ship 13B a Cv340 ne'C131B now in moth balls at PTK.

 

[mcjohn]

a 240,340.or a 440?

Sorry, wish I knew. I'll ask tomorrow.

 

[727C47]

i remember watching a green/white 440 rumble,rumble into key west back in'01,it was beautiful !

 

[727C47]

any LONE STAR CV340 jocks out there?

 

[Sig]

Capt Jim Garner showed me the technique of pinning the mains on the runway

Looking at your profile, were you of the old-school PI pilots, and if so, is this the same Jim Garner that just retired at US? Either way, you have everything from the rice barge on up- heck of a career.

 

[CSY Mon]

Capt Jim Garner showed me the technique of pinning the mains on the runway

Yeah, that was the only way to keep the -3 from bouncing back in the air when ya touch down: Not only would the spring action from the struts and the big tires make the aeroplane bounce, but also with the CG behind the main gear, any down momentum would get the tail down, the nose up and ya be flying again...

If ya did a really smooth touch-down, the drag from the wheels spinning up would give ya a very slight nose-down attitude and if the F/O was quick at getting the flaps up, no "pin-down" required.
Those landings were rare however.

Aye, the DC-3, one of my 3 favorite planes:

They rate about equally on the list:
C-185
DC-3
B-747

Least enjoy list.....?

Never really enjoyed the C-188 B or the C-337, or the C-120, the B-18, or the Monney Mustang, but perhaps I did not have enough time in those machines to really learn them good.

Never flew the Convairs, but would have loved to do. Also the DC-4, the DC-6/7 and other classics are on my list but as the years go by, it will probably never happen.

 

[727C47]

the DC-7C,and L1649 Starliner are on my dream list.

 

[CSY Mon]

L1649 Starliner are on my dream list.

Would that be a Super Connie...?

 

[727C47]

Would that be a Super Connie...?

no that would be the Starliner, larger squared off wing,no tip tanks,could do the Atlantic westbound with no fuel stops, last of the Connie line, only 43 built, TWA,lufthansa,and Air France, had them in service from '57 onwards, the 707 started arriving in '58.

 

[Apache06]

Piedmont New hire Oct 85

Looking at your profile, were you of the old-school PI pilots, and if so, is this the same Jim Garner that just retired at US? Either way, you have everything from the rice barge on up- heck of a career.

It's the same Jim Garner alright. What a prince of a guy he is. One of the best I ever flew with.