A New Version of a Famous Transport Aeroplane: A Technical Review of the Douglas Super DC‐3 Developed from the Dakota

IN the Douglas Super DC‐3 twin‐engined commercial transport, now being demonstrated throughout North and South America, may be seen an instructive example of what has come to be known in the aircraft industry as ‘bread‐and‐butter engineering’—the extension of the normal life‐span of a well‐tried design by rebuilding to modern operational and airworthiness standards. The ubiquitous DC‐3, from which the ‘super’ version is derived, has itself long been the bread‐and‐butter work‐horse of the air transport world, but its days are numbered under promulgated I.C.A.O. regulations which become operative in 1953. By rebuilding and modernizing the DC‐3 to international civil airworthiness standards, Douglas are out to show operators that the Super DC‐3 is the logical post‐war replacement in the twin‐engined short‐haul category.