Clay Lacy owns and
operates this 1945 DC-3, "Mainliner O'Connor" (N814CL). The origins of
the DC-3 go back to the DC-1, which was built as a prototype that first
flew in 1933. United Airlines became the first commercial user of the
DC-3 in November of 1936. By 1939, 90% of worldwide commercial airline
traffic was carried out by DC-3s! During WWII, DC-3s were pressed into
service as the C-47 Skytrain mainly. There were other variants and
designations, but the C-47 is the most commonly known. In British
service, it was called the Dakota. The Japanese acquired license to
build these also before WWII and designated them the Showa L2D. Russia
also built them under license as the Lisunov Li-2. DC-3s are still used
in many parts of the world to haul cargo. It is a solid testimony to
the solid design of the DC-3.
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