Kolkata, Jun 8 (PTI) A DC-3C aircraft, a modern version of the iconic Douglas DC-3 plane, a carrier that played a significant role during World War II, landed in the Kolkata airport on Saturday, officials said. The Canada-registered plane with no passenger on board came here from Delhi for a day for refuelling and to provide its four crew members – three captains and an engineer – some rest, they said. “The DC-3C is a modern variant of the iconic Douglas DC-3, a revolutionary aircraft from the 1930s that played a vital role in World War II and commercial aviation,” an official said. The aircraft landed at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at 12:13 pm from Delhi and it is scheduled to depart for Pattaya International Airport at 08:30 am on Sunday. “The DC-3, first flown in 1935, was a low-wing twin-engine monoplane that in various conformations could seat 21 or 28 passengers or carry 2,725 kg of cargo. It was over 64 feet (19.5 metres) long, with a wingspan of 95 feet (29 metres). It was manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, Inc,” according to Encyclopedia Britannica. “In the mid-1940s all but 25 of the 300 airline planes operating in the United States were DC-3s… (During wartime) it was used to transport passengers (28), fully armed paratroopers (28), wounded troops (18 stretchers and a medical crew of three), military cargo (e.g., two light trucks), and anything else that could fit through its cargo doors and weighed not much more than three tons,” a post on the noted encyclopedia’s website read.
Combining historic legacy with modern tech, the DC-3C remains a celebrated aircraft in aviation history, the official said. PTI SBN NN
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