OH-LCH | |
---|---|
General information | |
Type | Douglas C-53C Skytrooper |
Manufacturer | Douglas Aircraft Company |
Status | active for display flying and passenger trips |
Owners | Airveteran, previously with United States Army Air Force (USAAF), Aero and Finnish Air Force |
Construction number | 6346 |
Serial | 43-2033, DO–11 |
History | |
First flight | December 1942 |
In service | 1942–1986, military and revenue service |
Preserved at | airworthy at Helsinki Airport winters at Vaasa Airport |
OH-LCH ("Hotel") is the only airworthy Douglas DC-3 airplane in Finland. [1]
The aircraft was built in the Douglas Aircraft Company factory in Santa Monica, California and was completed on Christmas Eve 1942. It had been ordered by Pan American Airways, and it had been intended for their routes in Latin America. However, because of the war, the aircraft was handed over to the United States Armed Forces on 27 December 1942, and from the spring of 1943 to the fall of that year it served in the Northern Atlantic branch of the Transport Wing, probably at Presque Isle, Maine. Late in the fall of 1944, the aircraft was transferred to the Eighth Air Force in Europe, and after the war it was moved to the Oberpfaffenhofen center in Germany. [2]
In 1948 the State of Finland purchased the aircraft for use by Aero. Its first scheduled passenger flight took place on 21 July 1948, on the Malmi–Vaasa–Tampere–Malmi route. During the following winter the aircraft was furnished for passenger use. It flew until December 1960, when it had flown 22 137 hours. It was then used for spare parts, but was reassembled and fitted with a freight door since Aero needed freight aircraft. It retained its previous registration, and was put back to service after Midsummer 1963. Aero operated the aircraft until 1 April 1967, when it flew Aero’s last DC-3 scheduled passenger flight. [2]
In 1970 the aircraft, along with the other DC-3s owned by Finnair, was sold to the Finnish Air Force, and was given the registration DO-11. In 1985, the Air Force retired its DC-3s. and OH-LCH, along with OH-LCD, were sold to Airveteran Oy. The latter aircraft is now at the Finnish Aviation Museum. [1] [2]
The aircraft was previously based at Malmi Airport, but since its closure in 2021, OH-LCH has been based at Helsinki Airport. One has to be a member of the Finnish DC Association to be able to fly on the aircraft. The winter months are spent in a hangar at Vaasa Airport. [1]
Data fromMcDonnell Douglas Aircraft since 1920 [3]
General characteristics
Performance
The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian airliner, the Douglas DC-4. Besides transport of cargo, the C-54 also carried presidents, prime ministers, and military staff. Dozens of variants of the C-54 were employed in a wide variety of non-combat roles such as air-sea rescue, scientific and military research, and missile tracking and recovery. During the Berlin Airlift it hauled coal and food supplies to West Berlin. After the Korean War it continued to be used for military and civilian uses by more than 30 countries. It was one of the first aircraft to carry the President of the United States, the first being President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II.
The Lockheed Model 10 Electra is an American twin-engined, all-metal monoplane airliner developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, which was produced primarily in the 1930s to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2. The type gained considerable fame as one was flown by Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan on their ill-fated around-the-world expedition in 1937.
The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after the earliest jet airliner—the de Havilland Comet—entered service and only a few years before the jet-powered Douglas DC-8 first flew in 1958. Larger numbers of both DC-7B and DC-7C variants were also built.
The Douglas DC-5 was a 16-to-22-seat, twin-engine propeller aircraft intended for shorter routes than the Douglas DC-3 or Douglas DC-4. By the time it entered commercial service in 1940, many airlines were canceling orders for aircraft. Consequently, only five civilian DC-5s were built. With the Douglas Aircraft Company already converting to World War II military production, the DC-5 was soon overtaken by world events, although a limited number of military variants were produced.
The Kyūshū Q1WTōkai was a land-based anti-submarine patrol bomber aircraft developed for the Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II. The Allied reporting name was Lorna. Although similar in appearance to the German Junkers Ju 88 medium bomber, the Q1W was a much smaller aircraft with significantly different design details.
The Douglas Dolphin is an American amphibious flying boat. While only 58 were built, they served a wide variety of roles including private air yacht, airliner, military transport, and search and rescue.
The Douglas DC-4E was an American experimental airliner that was developed before World War II. The DC-4E never entered production due to being superseded by an entirely new design, the Douglas DC-4/C-54, which proved very successful.
The Douglas A-33 was an American attack aircraft built in small numbers during World War II. It was an updated version of the Northrop A-17, with a more powerful engine and an increased bomb load. While the A-33 was intended initially for the export market, the entire production run was taken up by the United States Army Air Corps.
The Douglas C-1 was a cargo/transport aircraft produced by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation for the United States Army Air Service starting in 1925.
Aero Flight 311, often referred to as the Kvevlax air disaster, was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Aero O/Y between Kronoby and Vaasa in Finland. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-3, crashed in the municipality Kvevlax, nowadays part of Korsholm on 3 January 1961, killing all twenty-five people on board. The disaster remains the deadliest aviation accident in Finnish history. The investigation revealed that both pilots were intoxicated and should not have been flying.
Karair was an airline from Finland. Initially having offered scheduled passenger flights, the company became a subsidiary of Finnair, mainly operating on holiday charter routes.
The AS/SA 202 Bravo is a two to three-seat civil light aircraft jointly designed and manufactured by the Swiss company Flug- und Fahrzeugwerke Altenrhein (FFA) and the Italian company Savoia-Marchetti. The aircraft was designated the AS 202 in Switzerland, and the SA 202 in Italy.
The Douglas XCG-17 was an American assault glider, developed by the conversion of a C-47 Skytrain twin-engine transport during World War II. Although the XCG-17 was successfully tested, the requirement for such a large glider had passed, and no further examples of the type were built; one additional C-47, however, was converted in the field to glider configuration briefly during 1946 for evaluation, but was quickly reconverted to powered configuration.
The Douglas Cloudster was a 1920s American biplane aircraft. It was the only product of the Davis-Douglas Company, and was designed to make the first non-stop flight coast-to-coast across the United States.
The Douglas DF was a commercial flying boat built by Douglas Aircraft Company, first flown on 24 September 1936.
The Douglas Cloudster II was an American prototype five-seat light aircraft of the late 1940s. It was of unusual layout, with two buried piston engines driving a single pusher propeller. Only a single example was built, which flew only twice, as it proved too expensive to be commercially viable.
The Douglas DC-2 is a 14-passenger, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3, which became one of the most successful aircraft in history.
Finnair Flight 915 (AY915) was a scheduled flight by Finnair from Tokyo, Japan, over the North Pole to Helsinki, Finland, on 23 December 1987. In 2014, Finnish media reported a claim by two of the flight's pilots that the Soviet Union had fired a missile at the aircraft, which exploded less than 30 seconds before impact. The allegations came out only in September 2014, when Helsingin Sanomat, the leading Finnish daily newspaper, published an extensive article on the matter. The Finnish Broadcasting Corporation YLE reported on the article on the internet the same day.
The Mitsubishi G7M Taizan was a proposed twin-engine long-range bomber designed for use by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1941.
The Douglas R4D-8 is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3S airliner. It was used by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps during the Korean War and Vietnam War.