HoboPilot

I read "Fate is the Hunter" back in middle school and also read another of his books called "The High and the Mighty", which though fictional is very accurate and realistic and a great read. Plus they made it into a John Wayne movie.

Anyway, your story Fred sounds awesome. I don't mind hardships during work and would love to have some of the same experiences you got during your time flying the classic airliners. Is it true that you get wetter inside the cockpit of a DC-3 when its raining as opposed to being outside?

It does seem like the opportunity to fly the classics in a work environment will not be around for much longer. I'd just love the opportunity to fly a real airplane before I end up going on to earning a living flying something more comfortable. It seems like a lot of people on this forum are more focused on the end game of their flying careers. I care about where I end up, but I'd love to have some fun on the way and flying one of the old classics seems like a great way to do that.

KiloAlphaPapa

B-17 jobs ! now your talking!

I always did wonder how you get a job flying for EAA or the Collings Foundation. I guess you could pay up and join the CAF and fly some there.

You do get wet in the DC3 but not that much, one good tube of silicon all over the windshield works wonders.

What if PBA (Provincetown-Boston Airline) was still around, we could get jobs flight the DC3 and Lockeed 10A electras !

JetPiedmont

Uh oh, I came here because I thought it had to do with intercepting VOR radials...

Fred Flintstone

I was lucky to fly the Goonie bird in the sunny tropics, so getting wet was a way to beat the heat. We did have ponchos to wear and there was a big air tube we called the elephant pecker to direct warm air under your poncho when it got wet and cold.

Mostly flew around with the side windows open to keep cool, but then again my wife now swears I'm deaf as a post :-) Did take the top hatch off one time to fly convertible style. Now that was a mistake! 40years of dust & crud flying around the cockpit till we landed. We walked off looking like the Charlie Brown character "Pig Pen".

Still miss flying the old bird, and yes, High & the Mighty along with Island in the Sky are two of my all time favorite movies.

What would Dan Roman do?

Rama

www.catalinaflying boats.com I think they run a DC-3 out of Long Beach.
There is a B-17 that lives in YIP. I think they do some summer circuit flying.

HoboPilot

He'd just walk away whistling, like it was all in a day's work.
And don't forget the captain who was played by Robert Stack. I'm sure that experience in the DC-4 on the way to SFO helped him to talk down Striker in that 707 in "Airplane!"

Kilo Alpha Pappa, as for PBA still flying, maybe we'll see the day when Cape Air starts flying DC-3s on some of their higher volume routes around Cape Cod. They seem happy enough with their 402s though. Fun fact, some of those Cape Air 402s are ex-PBA 402s and still have the PB tail number.

So unfortunately it kinda seems like the easiest way to get into the seat of a radial engined classic now-a-days is to fly one that's on the air show circuit. Stinsonjr, I think I remember you talking about being involved with the Airline History Museum (formerly known as Save a Connie) folks, do you know if those old TWA guys are looking for more pilots or do they still have their bias towards ex TWA guys?

Wildflyin

umm...why'd you quote my post with yours?

clearandcold

Up in Alaska Everts Air Cargo operates a fleet of DC-6's and a few C-46's. Northern Air Cargo has a few DC-6's and a company called Universal is around in the summer flying the DC-6. I have also seen a charter operator around the runs a DC-3.

JetPiedmont

Well...I was refering to the fact that I misunderstood what the name of the thread meant, which you had stated that you liked.

FlyOrDie

Come to Alaska. I never thought I'd be a Six FO until I ended up here in the frozen north.