US DOUGLAS DC-3s  -  1970s

I was pleased to see so many Douglas DC-3s still flying airline passenger services and freight charter in USA in the late 1970s


Honolulu was the base of a good number of DC-3s plying passenger and freight services between the Hawaiian islands.
N162E seen in September 1979, was fitted with the Garrett-AiResearch DC-3 Maximizer performance kit.
It was operated by Airspeed Hawaii on cargo work, but seating could be quickly installed for occasional passenger charter


Airspeed's other DC-3 N104RP also had Viewmaster windows and the Maximizer modifications. 
Their DC-3s flew with a fleet of Piper Aztecs on a contract to carry tourists and supplies to a resort on a Hawaiian island


N99131 at Honolulu in September 1977 had both engines removed for overhaul. It was operated by Island Air Transfer Inc,
along with Beech 18s, to carry excess passenger baggage between the islands for the major airlines.
It retains the paint scheme of its former owner Ansett in Australia as VH-ANX, and Australian Aircraft Sales logo behind the cockpit


Worldwide freight forwarder DHL established DHL Island Airways at Honolulu in 1977 with DC-3s and DC-6s to carry cargo between
the islands. Their DC-3s N102BL & N103BL were US Embassy disposals at Bangkok in 1976 and ferried from Thailand to Honolulu


DHL Island Airways N102BL at Honolulu in September 1977 had not yet been repainted in the DHL scheme


N401JB was flying cargo work from the Brandt Air cargo shed at Honolulu in September 1979.
It retained the colourful paint scheme of its previous US mainland passenger charter operator


This USAF C-47B 0-49852 in tactical camouflage was stored at Honolulu in September 1977, with a C-54 and F-102 which
had been assigned to a proposed aviation museum on the airport, which failed to get started


N2647 Crewbie Liner at Chino, California in September 1979 carried the sound equipment and road crew for Doobie Brothers tours.
The VIPs in the group travelled in an executive Martin 404 named The Doobie Liner, in identical colour scheme


N32B was a corporate aircraft with executive seating and Maximizer modifications to reduce drag and improve performance.
Named Tinsley's Boss Bird, it was visiting Lake Tahoe, California in September 1979


N21768 pulls in at the Miami passenger terminal in October 1977, wearing Air South and Florida Airlines titles


The original Air South scheme on N28364 at Miami in October 1977


Air Sunshine used DC-3s on scheduled passenger services in Florida. I took this picture from the window of a jet airliner as we
aloofly passed N74KW in the engine run-up bay at a Miami runway holding point in October 1977.


Air South and Florida Airlines also flew services under the name The Connection. N86U at Miami in October 1977


Provincetown-Boston Airlines's southern division was Naples Airlines based at Naples, Florida. N139PB at Miami in October 1979


The oil-soaked itinerant ramps of Miami International Airport were home to many anonymous DC-3s engaged on a variety of operations.
N2028 seen in October 1979 was owned by Layne Dredging Co of Hallandale, Florida


N123D at Miami in October 1979 was fitted with the Maximizer kit including enlarged undercarriage doors


N25661 at Miami in October 1979 was another with Maximizer mods.  It had been built as a pre-war DC-3 for American Airlines


N230F at Opa Locka, Florida in October 1979 looked particularly smart. It was used by a training school for pilot endorsements


Also at Opa Locka in October 1979 was N1294 with Viewmaster lengthened passenger windows


N4682T at Fort Lauderdale, Florida in October 1979 had been released by US Navy only several months earlier,
after years of military test work by Raven Industries of Sioux Falls, South Dakota


N48159 at Ft Lauderdale in October 1979.  International Field Studies used a number of propliners to carry student groups


Pinehurst Airlines N52V at Greenville, South Carolina in October 1979 had been recently retired and was up for sale
At the time Pinehurst was replacing its seven DC-3 freighters with used Japanese YS-11A turboprops


Freighter N13AT at Fairbanks, Alaska in September 1979 was still wearing its former USAF VC-47D paintwork


N99663 at Fairbanks in September 1979 retains its distinctive RCAF paint scheme from its days as Dakota KP227, later CAF 12906


At Anchorage, Alaska in September 1979 was N75142 of Northern Air Cargo, purchased from Reeve Aleutian Airways


DC-3s were becoming popular as warbirds, being restored as WWII paratroop carriers and transports. The Confederate Air Force used
them at airshows for paratroop-drop displays, such as N21729 seen at Harlingen, Texas in October 1977


Another Confederate Air Force C-47 taxies out at Harlingen, Texas in October 1977


This FAA nav-aid testing DC-3 N43 had been sold to a dealer and new registration N54595 hand spray-painted.
There were several ex-FAA DC-3s at Chandler, Arizona in October 1979 for civil overhauls by air tanker company T&G Inc.
Note the long navigator's window behind the cockpit, a feature of the FAA's DC-3s


Where do DC-3s come from in the 1970s?
Part of a collection of USAF disposals C-47s at Ryan Field near Tucson, Arizona in October 1977, stripped for parts by
 Neal Veal's Mayo Clinic for Douglas Aircraft, according to the sign on the hangar.  Each had made the short ferry flight across the
desert after auction at Davis Monthan Air Force Base.  Some were refurbished for civil sale and for South American air forces



Millardair's executive DC-3 CF-WTU was at Ryan Field, Arizona in October 1977, down from Toronto for maintenance


Another desert airfield to finish. N3MJ was parked at Mojave, California in September 1977 in the high Mojave Desert.
It was operated by Detoit-based Cryderman Air Service, specialising in delivery of new motor vehicle spare parts from the factories


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