Douglas Aircraft · USA
Douglas DC-3
First flight · 1935
Key Fact
The aircraft that made airlines profitable. By 1939 the DC-3 carried 90% of the world's airline traffic — and thousands still fly commercially today, nearly 90 years on.
Overview
The Douglas DC-3 emerged from a request by American Airlines for a sleeper aircraft — one with proper berths so passengers could rest on overnight transcontinental flights. Douglas lengthened and widened the DC-2 to accommodate 14 sleeping berths, then discovered that a 21-seat daytime configuration was simply the most economical aircraft ever built for short- and medium-haul routes. Airlines could for the first time turn a profit carrying passengers alone, without mail subsidies. Its engineering was advanced for its era: all-metal stressed-skin construction, retractable undercarriage, trailing-edge flaps, and a smooth flush-riveted skin were all features that had existed separately on other aircraft but never combined in one design. The two 1,200 hp Wright R-1820 radial engines were reliable enough to sustain single-engine flight fully loaded. In wartime service as the C-47 'Skytrain', it dropped paratroops at Normandy, supplied the Hump route over the Himalayas, and served with every major Allied air force. Roughly 400 remain airworthy today.
Engineering
First Economically Self-Sufficient Airliner
Every airliner before the DC-3 required government mail subsidies to cover operating costs — airlines could not turn a profit on passenger revenue alone. The DC-3's combination of efficient R-1820 radials, retractable undercarriage, and 21-seat layout was the first configuration that let airlines pay their own way on passengers. It founded the economics of the commercial aviation industry.
Stressed-Skin Monocoque Integration
All-metal stressed-skin construction, retractable undercarriage, trailing-edge flaps, and flush riveting had each appeared individually on earlier aircraft. The DC-3 was the first to combine all of them in a single design — producing a structural and aerodynamic efficiency that separated it from every predecessor and established the template for the next 30 years of airliner design.
Single-Engine Performance Surplus
Both 1,200 hp Wright R-1820 radials were deliberately over-specified relative to minimum certification requirements. The DC-3 could sustain full-payload flight on one engine — an unusually generous safety margin for its era. This reliability, demonstrated over thousands of wartime hours as the C-47, is the primary reason roughly 400 examples remain airworthy nearly 90 years after the type's first flight.
Specifications
Wingspan
95 ft 0 in (28.96 m)
Length
64 ft 6 in (19.66 m)
Engines
2× Wright R-1820-202 Cyclone radials
Power (each)
1,200 hp (895 kW)
Cruise speed
207 mph (333 km/h)
Range
1,500 mi (2,400 km)
Passengers
21–32 (day) / 14 sleeping berths
Max takeoff weight
25,200 lb (11,431 kg)
Still airworthy today
~400 aircraft