On 7/14/2010 12:10 PM, Paul Laughlin wrote:
> On 7/14/2010 11:01 AM, Jim Nichols wrote:
>> This proud old DC-3 could tell a lot of stories...
> Nice shot, Jim. A bit of nostalgia for me. I have been in and around a lot
> of them in the past. I worked as a Radio Mechanic in the USAF for several
> years. When the C-54s were taken to Europe for the Berlin Airlift, they ran
> the Military Air Transport Service trans continental passenger service with
> C-47s.
My experience with the D-47 incarnation was an AF ROTC trip to San Diego. (Hold
up our hands, all you old farts who
remember when ROTC was mandatory at land grant colleges.)
I know some of you old flyboys feel nostalgia for these old planes. I tough it
was the worst thing I'd flown in - hmmm,
still do. Incredibly noisy, too cold and really uncomfortable. There may have
been different configurations; this was
just a big cargo bay, with sling things they claimed were seats. The toilet was
a rubber funnel attached to a hose that
led out the bottom.
And yes, Paul, the radio went out on the way back, so nobody knew if we were
still in the air or where we were. We
stopped at an airbase in the central valley, to let them know we were OK and
see if the radio could be fixed. No fix,
but at least Hamilton Field knew to expect us late and without radio.
> I was assigned to the MATS detachment that ran that service in '48.
I've sailed MSTS (motion sick, again.), but not flown MATS.
> Rode a number of them as a passenger later during my service. A real work
> horse.
I guess. If they were all as noisy as the one I flew in, there must have been a
lot of folks with hearing impairment.
Moose
> Paul in Portland OR
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