Left or Right... that's the question.

[Piston Paul]

In our team of editors (I'm one of them) of 'DAKOTA', the phenomenal bi-monthly magazine of DDA-Classic Airlines, we are currently having a 'discussion' as why some pre-war DC-3's have the passenger door on the left and some others (especially American Airlines) on the right.

The earliest models of the DC-3 ALL had the door delivered on the RH side.

An overview extracted from Jennifer Gradidge's 'Bible':
7x American DST144 RH (december 1935)
17x American DC-3-178 RH
11x United DC-3A-191 RH
25x KLM DC-3A-194 RH
18x Amtorg/Fokker DC-3-196 RH

Later in 1936:
34x Eastern DC-3-197 LEFT !!

From this time on, most DC-3's had LH doors, but NOT American A/L and United, who remain to have the RH door as standard:
19x United/Western DST-A-207 RH (July 1937)
9x American DC-3-208 RH (July 1937)

..and one European 'late-comer':
2x Swissair DC-3-216 RH

It seems that after 1938, only American Airlines bought DC-3's with RH doors. (DC-3-277: 1st delivery May 1939), but that a trend for LH doors as standard was set.
(Note: DC-2's had LH doors aswell. )

QUESTIONS:
- Why did AA keep the 'off-standard' RH-doors?
- Why did Eastern selected the then 'off-standard' LH-door i.s.o. the RH door, back in '36?

Not all at once, please!! ;D

Cheers,
Paul

[Tom/CalClassic]

Hi,

Why AAL wanted a right hand door while the rest of the world wanted it on the left, I do not know.

When AAL helped develop the CV-240 with Convair, they specified a right hand door. Thus all 240's built with side airstairs had them on the right side. Convair switched to a left hand door on the 340.

[jesse]

I can't verify this, but when I was a boy in Tulsa I used to spend a lot of time at Tulsa Municipal Airport. All of the American Air Liine DC-3s usually kept one engine running while they offloaded and reloaded passengers. The engine left running was always the one opposite the passenger door. I think their reasoning was to prevent the prop wash from blowing on the passengers as they boarded....

Jesse

[dc6tryer]

Hi,
So if I may stick an oar in here .... if the pilot had need to lean out of his window and talk to the ground crew, it would be better to have the right hand engine running, and that meant a left hand door

Andy.

[Randy_Cain]

Hi,

Jesse, I get your meaning. That means with the battery and generator leads to #2 (right) having the shortest run and the lowest line loss of power (per foot), it was just more practical and efficient to keep #2 the running engine at a field with no ground power.

Do I have that right?

Yours,