markmo@tekig4.UUCP (Mark Morland) (10/31/85)
Two weeks ago I flew a DC3 for about 45 minutes of mostly straight and level. I found it to be very stable, and had a good control feel, if heavy (considering it's gross is about 10X anything else I've flown, that was no surprise). I am accustomed to some control cable slack from the Wichita Spam Cans, but this DC3 was TIGHT. Elevator trim is driven by a 10" dia. brass wheel on the left side of the throttle quadrant. Dialing the wheel maybe 3/16" would produce a 150fpm climb or dive. Cruise was about 125ktsindicated at 9000' with 6500 lbs of cargo. The return flight with 2500 lbs. showed 136kts at 8000'. Cruise rpm was 2050, takeoff power had 'em spinning 2400 rpm. The engines have 1930 cu. in. for 1200hp each. This particular bird was built in 1942. Biggest impression? That's easy, NOISY. It wasn't just the engines, there were hydraulic pumps whining and alot of wind noise, though I think most of the high frequency ringing was from my cheapo headset. Hopefully I'll get to try an 85hp J3 this weekend! Mark Morland tektronix!tekig4!markmo
rl@ucsfcgl.UUCP (Robert Langridge%CGL) (11/01/85)
In article <345@tekig4.UUCP> markmo@tekig4.UUCP (Mark Morland) writes: >Two weeks ago I flew a DC3 for about 45 minutes ... Mark, I have only one reaction: sheer envy! How did you manage to arrange it? Bob Langridge ...ucbvax!ucsfcgl!rl (UUCP) Computer Graphics Laboratory rl@ucsf-cgl (ARPA) University of California +1 415 666 2630 San Francisco CA 94143 +1 415 666 1540