John Smith wrote in
:

In article ,
Bertie the Bunyip wrote:

I have a lot of time in them. Still one of my favorite airplanes.
Demanding, on the ground, anyway, but very responsive for such a big
airplane. Noisy as hell, particularly if it has Ham Standards. Fairly
fast, even by todays's stndards. 200 mph cruise is possible. And it
will haul ten people a good distance. it must have been an
astonishing airplane in 1936. If I won the lottery I'd have one of my
own, I think.

A grey-beard I knew flew them for Eastern in the early days.
He told me they used to leave some city on the eastern seaboard after
a United DC-3 and be in the coffee shop in Miami sipping their coffee
as they watched the United DC-3 arrive.

Oh yeah,. They were faster than most fighters of the day when they came
out. I've flown the -3 as well and the best you could do in one of those
was about 150 mph and that was at altitude and pushing it hard.
It's comparing apples and oranges,though. With roughly twice the
horsepower, the DC-3 had three times the lifting capability, and it was
better in short fields!
The DC-3 was approach category A and most 18s were B

I got to fly an immaculate and rare Jake powered one to OSH one year
becasue the owner was scared to death of it. It dind't go so well, but it
was lighter and nimbler than the Super 18 with Pratts. It had an art deco
leather and wood interior and the cockpit was almost pure 1930s. Really
cool. I'd like to have tried a Lockheed 10 or 12 for comparison, but not
many of those around.

Bertie