Added: 4 years ago
From: fly4fun
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  • im learning this just in case a catastrophic pandemic zombie apocalypse occur and so happen i come across a stray DC-3 which is my only escape for survival...yall know what i mean.

  • wow! nice plane, and a nice video to! but i have only one question: how can you see the runway when you are taxiing with this plane?

  • does the dc 3 use the same gas as modern planes?

  • looks like a cool transporter, big enough to transport a good band of musicians for their gig. i can found a band and fly to my own gigs in such a bird.

  • Happy 76th birthday to the DC-3!

  • Comment removed

  • i hope not at home coz a dc 3 wont fit in my house

  • it took 17 dummies to start one DC-3 engine and failed ^-^

  • dont do this at home? i usually fly dc-3 at home, with just a 10 inch display :)

  • nice .... nice ....

  • Yall Make it look easy. But what about the Mag check? What is the 8 count? Is it to prim it with fuel? Yall make it look like it is as easy to start a jet with a apu.

  • my instructor is in his 60s i believe. he did all of his multi engine training in a dc3. lucky bastard lol

  • hmm, my Toyota Prius has much easiest start procedure :)

  • Always something satisfying about the ker-chunk of a piston engine.

  • Beautiful planes...very well built. So well that they're upgraded to turbo props and used today....search "Basler BT-67".

    And the web address in the info box should have an "a" in transcon.

    Thanks for posting, Mr. Wien

  • Do you own this beautiful bird?

  • I usually press CTRL + E

  • @Tubewaytorpedo LOL! I prefer to do the manual start-up in FSX. :P

  • @Tubewaytorpedo that's for noobs :P

  • @Tubewaytorpedo LOL. Me too! Hugs from the Brazil.

  • dionna70dotsquarespacedotcom actual dots where it says dot plz tks tell friends oh and luv vid

  • what's with the pointed nose?

  • half the fun of flying ANY plane is starting it.

  • Sounds like a 57 chevy i use to have...lol

  • simbo- i'm glad you're just joking around- people who use contaminated containers or the wrong type of fuel for cars, planes, and trains get others hurt and/or killed with their ignorance. i don't think using jet fuel in a reciprocating engine is going to work out for you unless the engine has lots of compression. hmmm- you've got me wondering what would happen if jet fuel were used in a diesel.... anyone out there know???

  • Do this at home...on Flight Simulator.

  • HOW TO CRASH A DC-3...

  • dude! dont learn it to terrorists

  • The DC-3 holds a special place in my heart from a child to a adult.

  • Wheres the button for the chemtrails? LOL

  • Pshhh I wish I could do this at home.

  • "Don't try this at home."

    Translation: Do it at a friend's house instead, his parents aren't home and he has the camera to put it on YouTube.

  • The nose appears to be extended on this one.

  • Don't try this at home thoe xD

  • First flight I have ever taken was when I joined the Navy and flew a DC-3 from Scanton, PA to Detroit, MI.

  • I knew a man who served in WW 2 that was the only C-47 pilot to have been credited with a Japaneese Zero kill.

  • Great video!!!....quite a process just to fire up a radial engine....on a DC3 you get to go thought that twice LOL!!

  • See i always thought you just put the keys in the ignition and off you go

  • That a sweet looking plane. The one I had didnt look that nice. The panel is really nice

  • Is the engines known as turbo prop???

  • @hAhan17 No, these are Pratt and Whitney R-1830 piston engines. Some DC-3s were modified to use turboprops years later.

  • @fly4fun

    The first plane I ever flew in was a Gooney Bird, and I've had a soft spot for this top all rounder ever since. However. I've often wondered why it was never fitted out with the Packard Merlin?

  • @johnpetermalcolm Because, John, that would have made it just way too awesome. So amazing, in fact, that it would likely distract other pilots and even birds that happened to be flying at the same time. So they decided against it.

  • @johnpetermalcolm Because Pratt & Whitney were air cooled not water like merlin and made more HP.

  • @johnpetermalcolm Packard Merlin?? hmmmm is there such a thing?? Packard tried to copy the Merlin and didn't really succeed.

  • @seau2007

    I see from your site that you know of the P51, but wasn't the P51D fitted with the V-1650-7 Packard Merlin made under licence from Rolls Royce?

    Somewhere at home I have a DVD of the Supermarine Spitfire, and I fairly sure that it states that even some MK VIII or MK IX Spitfires were fitted with the same engine.

    I'm the first to admit that I'm no expert on aircraft; just an enthusiast, who at times ask questions that might seem stupid to those with a better knowledge.

  • @fly4fun

    Think so many people dont see the difference between piston engins with turbo or double turbo or turboprop or jet engine with fan. Here the turbo is same as charging of the engine with overperessurized air. Turbodiesel is not so modern as many carbuilders claims, for as an example, Zeppelin Hindenburg was equipped with four Mercedes Benz turbodiesel engines. Four valve pistonengines with charging were common on fighterplanes during WW2.

  • @fly4fun How much horsepower could you get out of these things at full throttle.

  • @hAhan17 nope....these are known as radial engines, best sounding engines on any aircraft...lol

  • @hAhan17 These are radial engines. The poster said "round" engines so he probably does not have his "ticket".

  • @hAhan17 radial engines ;)

  • @hAhan17 Piston engines on planes are generally larger in diameter.  Turbo Props are narrow and long. Turbo props are basically jet engines with a shaft driving the prop.

  • I agree with ur description starting radials is alotta fun

  • What sort of engines in these?

  • don't do this at home???

    too bad i was looking forward to start my dc3 oh well

  • Now I know how to steal a DC3, great!

  • Oh, what a majestic plane!

  • Who !

    Imagin a DC6, It would take all day to start it !

    :o)

  • Can anyone tell me who was he signaling to on the outside and why?

  • I can't try it at home, but I'm doing it in my dreams!

  • great vid, my dad was in the RAF in Iceland in ww2, and told me the old run up procedure for the c47 / dc3, do you still do the "mag drop test" were you start on battery power then watch for an rpm drop when you switch over to magneto only, or do the electrics not work that way any more. and I start all sorts of engines in my house - is that why im single?

  • why shouldn´t we start a dc-3 at home?

    if we´ve got one at home, why not?

    :)

  • 1:44 Do you really think, I got a private DC-3 in my bedroom...?

  • @Conan1ts I do. :)

  • Cool.*****

  • Where is the checklist?

  • bravo bravo bravo

  • Always kool to watch these dc3's my dad flew for Union of Burma Airways back in the 1960's

  • 10-12 blades in cold weather. (or 100 blades if it's really frigid..and bring coffee...HOT coffee)

    Make sure you have a full 24 volts available or a power cart standing by.

    And go ahead and try it at home..........................­.........

  • @schlusselmensch Thanks for your reply on the inertia hand starter. Interesting stuff. The flywheel must have been heavily counter weighted in order to turn such a large engine over. And it makes sense that it would apply to the early Curtis Wright radials. I would like to see one in action some time. Thanks again!

  • For real enroute fun, you could get at the elevator cables in the '3 without any trouble at all. Then you put a cable block on the down cable and very gradually started to bring the nose down. Of course the hapless pilot would reel in some up trim (usually the cojoe; captain would be asleep). You'd keep doing that gradually until you were really struggling to pull any more. Took forever, but when you let go the block the pilot would shit himself. Best to be sitting down as well. Hilarious.

  • Very good and informative video! A question for you: Are you using an internal APU to generate the start as I didn't notice one on the ground. Also, I've heard that "some" DC-3's came with a crank-type starting system(hand-crank to preload a spring tensioner I suppose). It was only fitted to one engine. Does yours have this? Have you ever heard of this type of hand start system on a DC-3? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

  • @goesfastandfar The Wright R-1820 could be fitted with a hand cranked inertia starter, as I recall. So perhaps very early models of the '3 could have had such a feature. It was not a spring you were winding up, it was a small dense flywheel.

  • Is it private? if yes you're very lucky

  • Success?!?!?!? Like they were surprised!?!?!? That's scary.

  • As a kid in the 50s I would lie in bed at night 1/4 mile from Ringway's (Manchester) runway and identify aircraft by their sound. The DC3 has always been my favourite orchestra, went up the steps of many at air shows but never got to fly in one. Thanks for the vid..many regrets, should have been a pilot not a piss head.

  • @beyosoco Well then you should have been a fighter pilot! You could have flown AND been a piss head.

  • Comment removed

  • @beyosoco Good heavens, it was a pisstake on fighter jocks; you sure it wasn't supposed to be "glad I was a bipolar piss head instead" LOL?

  • @schlusselmensch Hmmm, apologies, just a little pissed off having been chemtrailed incessantly for two years now.

  • Thanks for this video.

  • i have fly one in fly simulatorX  :D

  • Dakasarus Rex

  • for an DC-3 do i need an tail dragger endorsement

  • @stealhty1 Yeah, and a type rating if you want to fly it as Captain.

  • Aren't you the guy from DC3 Transcon?

  • @rolfen Yeah, that was the blog post I wrote about this trip.

  • modified DC-3 :D

  • I want to fly one of this planes

  • Bless the ol' girl! Love it - thanks!

  • @RattledRivets - Indeed, bless the ol' girl. There be nary a plane who has her sound, her feel or smell. I took off in a DC-3 17 times back in the day but untill this day I have never landed in one.

  • I would like to heed the warning at the end, but i can´t. I´m opening Flight SimX right now.

  • Radials are like steam locomotives: they're ALIVE! Great clip.

  • I haven't been able to jump out of one of these yet. I will, though :-)...

  • It's a beautiful DC-3. The nose looks a bit odd though. Is that due to a camera angle or was it modified?

  • I WANT ONE!!!

  • Fabulous!!!

  • Fantastic vid... Ive probably commented before, but I have watched this vid several times over the last few months.. mostly for that typical low-gurgling sound you only seem to get from radial engines at low revs... I bloody love it. Well done.

  • Lovely Plane one of my fav.

  • I ignored your warning of not trying it at home, and now I wished I'd listened, a large percentage of my living room was destroyed by spinning propeller blades, my pet hamster died from carbon monoxide poisoning and trying to get the smell of jet fuel out of the cushions has been a nightmare. As a result we now only start our DC-3 in the back garden. I strongly urge anyone else to listen to the advice on the video before attempting any indoor start-up procedures of their own.

  • @SimboSays Thank you SimboSays for the warning! I just knew SOMEONE would try it!

  • @fly4fun That poor hamster would have never died, if he just used 115/130 octane instead of jet fuel! I haven't seen that in many years, but I think it's colored purple. Kent, I have an old DC-3 story to tell, but it was before video cameras were around. Give me a shout, if you want to hear about N711Y.

  • @SimboSays I bet it ran a bit rough on Jet A, sorry about the hampster

  • @SimboSays er , yeah , she dont run on jet, she runs on avgas .....but i am really sorry about ur hamster !

  • @SimboSays Jet fuel LOL no wonder you had problems starting your DC-3...

  • @TBM3EAvenger Bah, perhaps thats what killed hammie then...

  • @SimboSays LOL!!!! well, it seems your first problem was running your DC3 on jet fuel! DC3 engines run on gasoline!

  • @SimboSays What are you talking about ? :P

  • @SimboSays  From now on, i'm only going to land at the kitchen

  • @clifesk2 :D

  • @SimboSays Wait, what happens if you happen to live in your DC-3? (C-47, I got 'patio doors' in the back)

  • @SimboSays Did your wife divorced you after this?

  • You parked an airliner in your living room?!

  • @SimboSays well, sorry ill have to say no habla ingles, when you say dont try this @ home. , and simbo , why jet fuel?

  • @SimboSays The DC-3 does not use Jet Fuel, it uses AVGAS! =)

  • @SimboSays LMAO!!!!

  • I was beginning to think you forgot to turn of boost pump for #1 until you did at the last moment of the vid.

  • Thanks

    The DC 3 is the commercial plane ever constructed is the best,of the best

    this plane is the air mule

    please send to me your e.mail

  • Never knew Kevin Spacey could fly DC-3s!

  • "Don't do this at home" Haha

  • Could anyone answer me:

    What's with the whole "8 blades" thing? Where they count to 8 and then switch. Is that for the blades to turn 8 times before ignition? Or what?

  • @SantaTheHo The engine on a DC-3 is a radial engine and it has 9 cylinders, usually the blade rotates through all 9 unless the engine is already warm takes to start and the pilot knows how many times the blades goes through. Also on a radial engone you might notice when the pilot shuts and engine down he/she will get out of the plane and then rotate the prop through about 3 or 4 times so Hydrolic lock does not happen and that could distroy an engine fast

  • @av8tore71

    Thanks for the response. ;)

  • i want one of these

    always have a sick obession of mine if u know why then u know too much

  • @fly4fun your gps is a gpsmap 295 as i can see right?!

  • @TheFireFox2000 Yes it was. Came in very handy.

  • @fly4fun Is that ur plane auctually?!

  • @BruceCarbon Oh, no. Not at all. We just ferried it to Seattle from NY. dc3transcon dot come

  • @fly4fun ok THX ;) I'm jealious - I'll fly that thingy too - I love radial piston engine driven planes.... Lucky you :-)

  • this guy looks like kevin spacey with glasses :D

  • well how and the hell CAN i do this at home not bieng rood or anything but sereiosly

  • ....couldn't you just put the key in and turn it? lol

  • Nice!

  • Sure looks like a Super DC-3 that had upgraded engines. Am I wrong?

  • Hiiii Did U Install The GPS Or Did It Come Already Installed

  • There is a firm in Oshkosh which modifies DC-3s, replacing the piston engines with turboprops...which I thought interesting....also, there is an SF Bay Area biz jet leasing firm, where the owner has a personal DC-3 that he takes clients for rides in, around the Bay Area.... much more room than a Lear... for the money, @ $ 1.5M, about the cost of a Cessna Caravan, a turboprop DC-3 would be good value for short / medium range flights...

  • @xzqzq you dont want turboprops if you have nice piston engines

  • Why do you need to wait 8 secs to start it?

  • They are such beautiful planes when fully restored... one day, one day... How do I get in the left hand seat of one of those, or even the right? I've got a CPL on the way, but I've only seen 3 in Australia, kind of slim pickings.

  • Meh... Too much new fancy stuff. I prefer good old hardcore bird's.

  • great... when i see one standing at a airport i'm going to steal him becouse i fanally know how to do it now :D

  • How is it that most 70's jetliners are in the scrapyard but DC3's are still flying? Doesn't the airframe wear out after x number of take offs and landings?

  • @areolaman the DC3 was an unpressurized craft. the jetliners experience metal fatigue and cracking after soo many countless pressurization cycles. also the douglas company built the DC3 with a very robust airframe. also parts are still available for them because of the countless spare parts made during WW2.

  • @locke11216 thanks. I wonder if a modernized turbine DC3 will be brought back into production like the deHavilland twin otter is currently. Now the Viking Air twin otter is awaiting certification.

  • That was great. Thanks for posting. There's a DC3 at my local airfield. Now I know how to 'borrow' it.

  • I WISH I could do this at home ...

  • truly amazing! thanks for sharing. Loved the coments too. Frank

  • Nice, those engines sound terrifically maintained.

  • nah, its much easier in Flight simulator X, ctrl+e

  • I cant do it at home becuz I dont have a DC-3 at home :(

  • Wow, this took probably a lot of time to learn to handle this plane. Does it have any autopilot aids? Probably not.

  • This is the easy way to start a DC-3. I've seen DC-3s at O'Hare Airport in the late 50s start by explosive charge. The pilot placed the charge into a container similar to the way a shotgun is loaded. Sometimes it would take six or seven charges to get the engines running. Other times, one or two charges. That's real sound and smoke!

  • thanks now i can steal one hahahahha

  • I saw this Jimmy Stewart movie where he starts an airplane engine with what looks like shotgun shells. Can anyone explain that to me and to everyone else?

  • Dan Grider's?

  • GOD this looks fun...

  • @KKolchak you talking about the oil collecting in the bottom cylinders due to gravity, thus causing the smoke when started, is what I thought. Many horizontal cylinder engines have that problem because the oil seaps through the valve guilds and into the cylinders. I wish I could do this for real, never mind just at home.

  • "Don't do this at home..." Lol. Yes, becuase i have a DC-3 parked outside my house. Thanks for the advice. Joking, good video.

  • Awesome. In true pilot pilot fashion, though, I have to hate on you because I don't get to fly a DC-3 so HATE HATE HATE!!! Thanks for posting...

  • Old planes are awesome....:)

  • It's a Navy R4D.

  • @birddoggarten Not really, but the extra wing tanks sure help with the range. The nose was left over from a radar modification, but it will be brought back to original when it's restored.

  • @fly4fun are you going to keep modern avionics. i think its a good idea to keep the modern stuff, that way the aircraft is prepared for all kinds of poor visiblity flying if nessary.

  • @ad356 It's not mine, but the owner is currently restoring it. I'm sure it will be authentic and also up to date with a few modern additions.

  • Yes it is the insides been redone

  • No key??

  • Post WWII, there were a lot of them as airliners in Australia, as they were all over the world. My uncle remembered hitching a ride on the mail plane. DC-3s earned their stripes because they can land in places only smaller planes could attempt to. Northern Australia has a lot of wide open spaces, so dropping off anything by air was never a problem for these old workhorses

  • nice job, the cockpit is well updated

  • aaahhh the dc3 is one of the sexiest aircraft for sure!

  • "I belive i can fly........"

  • @etdeskate 444

  • Dude,I'd like to do that at home every day...As a kid,nothing fascinated me more then a DC-3 and a 747...the looks and the noise of this aircraft is just awesome. It changes a "bit" from the ol' Cessna 172 OMIGOD... One day I'll do the same and send you the link dude...have a nice day.

  • DO YOU LIVE IN THERE?

  • Didn't use GPU to start it?

  • the best plane in the world is a DC-3

  • No doubt about that

  • cool vid

  • Amazing Aircraft i love it :D !! i wish i Could Fl