Skytrain - A Transport Revolution

The legendary Douglas DC-3 Dakota Airliner and Military Cargo and Troop Transporter, was for its time a technological breakthrough that changed the course of both civilian and military aviation. During the 1920s and 30s air travel was still relatively expensive, uncomfortable, and frequently unreliable for those able to fly as passengers. That began to change after the design and entry into service of the family of aircraft that started with the DC-2 and ultimately reached perfection in the form of the larger DC-3. The aircraft was powered by a pair of Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp Wright Cyclone aero-engines, and was the brainchild of Donald Wills Douglas Sr. (1892-1981). This award winning and record breaking airframe remained in production for decades after its prototype first took to the sky in 1935, and are still in use to this day all across the world. The first early production models were sold to Airlines all over the world and by December 1941 they were also in service with several Allied Air Forces. It didn't take long for this modern looking monoplane to gain more and more admirers and it quickly became a favorite of both passengers and military transport groups the world over. One of its many attributes was its in service reliability and its ability to operate in almost every wartime theatre and in areas as inhospitable as Antarctica or the dust and dirt of outback Australia. In Skytrain Aviation Author and Photographer Philip Kaplan examines the long and distinguished civilian and military achievements and record breaking flights of this historic Airframe with archival photos and supporting text from the men and women who created, built, operated and maintained this aircraft in all its different versions. This book was previously published under a different title: Legend - The Story of the DC-3/C-47 Dakota.