Warbirdnerd wrote:
eagle21 wrote:
Tinsley's Chicken "Yardbird"
Bob Pond bought this airplane and it became Miss Angela. It was traded off as part of the deal for the B-17. It has since lost its pre war Navy paint job and last I heard is in Texas. I think we were told it was a C-41A...
'Impressed' DC-3's taken from airlines got different model numbers assigned depending on the engines, radios, cabin door and location (left or right side, swing down airstair or hinged) so the correct manuals and procedures were used, who was her original operator/customer?
After the war, airplanes were released pell mell to the original customers, but little to no attention was paid to equipment beyond engine types so UNTIED for example could have gotten a large number of left handed door airplanes to 'back fill' on it's taken right hand door standard setup and carriers put big arrows on the instrument panel so the Captain wouldn't arrive at it's destination and turn the airplane so the entry door faces out on the ramp and not facing the terminal
Dee Howard did a land office business converting C-47's into DC-3C's for PAN AM and others with passenger doors instead of cargo doors, extra fuel tankage, and they developed the equipment seen on BOSSBIRD which added a few extra knots to cruising speeds.