Why Is It Called SUPER DC-3?

[aharon]

Shalom and greetings all my pals,

I have come across a video about SUPER DC-3.  I have never heard of classification SUPER DC-3.  What sets SUPER DC-3 apart from DC-3 or C-47??

Look at this SUPER DC-3 landing on water without floats!!

[Dan]

Hi Aharon,

I think it is DC-3S. There is short description of this version at Wiki:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Douglas_DC-3_family_variants

Regards,
Dan

[capflyer]

This is a better Wiki on the Super DC-3 -

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_C-47_Skytrain#Super_DC-3_(R4D-8)

The gist of it is, Douglas wanted to take advantage of the numbers of DC-3s and C-47s out there and "modernize" them for the post-war use to try and stay competitive with some of the emerging new aircraft (like the Convair 240). By installing a new tail, new outer wings, a bigger R-2000 or R-1820 engine, and some other "speed mods" like a partially-retractable tailwheel and landing gear doors, the airplane picked up a fairly significant speed increase with a new top speed of 250 mph achieved. There were 3 DC-3S aircraft built and sold to Capital Airlines and 100 R4D-8 (later C-117D) aircraft modified for the US Navy and US Marine Corps.

[Tom/CalClassic]

Here is a nice story about the Super.

www.dc3history.org/dc3super.html

Hope this helps,

[aharon]

Thanks all for great answers.

Regards,

Aharon