NOTE: If imagery has changed and a marked plane has gone missing, you can use historical imagery to find it as it was. I will eventually update the file so only those visible in the default imagery are in the folder.

There are posters who have always been, or like me have become, real fans of the DC-3. Up until now I have discouraged posting of planes not visible from Google Earth's aerial perspective.

But after some reflection I'm now adding a sub-thread entitled "Hidden DC-3's" . I'll further subdivide that into " DC-3's in Museums " and " Unresolvable DC-3's ". If you post in either, please post a link to views or information about the particular planes so that GE users who wish to see the plane can have some idea of how to find it.

I've also created a sub-thread for Historic Imagery. If you find interesting imagery of this type, please post your replies there. Instructions are included in the sub-thread header post.

Click the above links to take you directly to the sub threads.

The 70th Anniversary of the DC-3's first flight was December 17, 2005 There is a link to a page when the Douglas DC-3 celebrated its 60th Anniversary HERE.

As I've searched airports and air museums around the world, the most likely easily recognizable plane I see is the Douglas DC-3 or one of its variants. . From high altitude, even from space, the distinctive DC-3 stands out. The shape of the wing and tail is distinctive. A few other planes, included in this thread and in the placemark folder look similar.

Source ...space...
DC-3 dimensions are approx 95' wingspan and 65' length.

Image from www.wmof.com

The first one flew in 1935; many still fly today. With the help of other DC-3 fans the folder attached here contains many hundreds of placemarks.

This post includes all DC-3 placemarks to date in one folder. If you think you have a new one, download the attached placemark folder first. All finds to the time of the update are in it. If there is no placemark on your find, it's a new one.
Check the edited by Hill information at the very bottom of this post for the time of the latest update. Anything posted to this thread after that date is quite new and has not yet been added to the big folder. It will be soon.

There are undoubtedly more out there. So if you find one, attach it as a reply, or send me the coordinates by private message if you prefer (I'll credit you with the find when I add it to the folder. ). I'll bet we can find a lot more of them. Happy hunting.

Network link: If you wish you can go to THIS POST created by Valery35. Download the network link that will automatically update many kinds of transportation files. For DC-3 only, uncheck everything but the DC-3 box.Thanks for the great link, Valery.

A BIG THANKS to all of the DC-3 fans who have added to the list.

NEW (2-24-08) - A great link to The Aviation Forum with lots of DC-3 photos, both historic and recent.
NEW (3-02-08) Another link to Fence Check with many searchable DC-3 photos including the page I have linked here.
Also see http://www.ruudleeuw.com/dc3_gate.htm for lots more links.

Here's The DC-3 Hangar with lots of information and links.
The DC-3 Aviation Museum is also is a great resource.
And here is another great page with lots of links of its own: www.fleetairarmarchive.net from the UK.
Another good link is www.dc3history.org

Here is another LINK with pictures of DC-3 details. Thanks, Delta102 .

Here's another link to lots of DC-3 images.


Many are still used for skydiving (top left from www.allposters.com ) Some are modified, like this DC-3 floatplane. http://www.dc3history.org (lower left) A World War II identification card from www.508pir.org(right)


C-47 in D-Day color scheme from www.douglasdc3.com and troops loading from www.thaiwreckdiver.com Painting of C-47's towing gliders over Normandy on D-Day. They are being escorted by P-51's. All have the Operation Overlord three-stripe paint scheme. Source

You Tube videos of DC-3's. There are about 20 more of varying quality linked to these in the You Tube site.

How to start a DC-3

DC-3 in flight

A beautifully refurbished DC-3 in Delta Air Lines colors.


There were even two glider versions created from C-47's - XCG-17's
Quote:
In early 1944 Lieutenant Chester Joseph Decker had an idea to remove the engines from the C-47 thus making it a glider. Chet Decker was a National Soaring Glider Champion assigned to the Glider Branch as a power pilot and glider pilot at Wright Field and Clinton County Army Air Field (CCAAF),the glider test and experiment base.

Official records and other writers credit William Lazarus as originator of this conversion concept. Floyd Sweet who was assigned to the Glider Branch, Wright Field from late November, 1942 until becoming head of the Glider Branch from October 1945 through its demise in 1952 has said the idea was Decker's and Decker was "shafted" for the idea because he was "out of line" for going to the Pentagon over the head of Wright Field officers with the idea. This experimental article was designated XCG-17.




Since I can't afford my own full-sized one, I've been purchasing a small fleet of DC-3's and variants over the past few years. They are 1:144 scale.





Attachments
All_DC-3's_2-26-10.kmz (1088 downloads)
Preview this file with the Google Earth Plugin (learn more)


Edited by Hill (02/27/10 08:59 PM)
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A Pale Blue Dot: Earth from Voyager 1 at a distance of about 4 billion miles.