I had forgetten about the double doors on the C47/military DC3's. I imagine
alot of the -3's had these added as they were transferred to cargo roles later
in life. Real interesting to see all the DC3's being worked on at OSH over at
Basler Aviation, turbine conversions and refurbishments. Is the R4D the Navy
version of the Gooney? I also remember being at the Oshkosh Fly-In and seeing
a Gooney do a RATO ir JATO (rocket or jet assisted takeoff, for the ground
pounders). At any rate, I still would think it'd be better for loading and
unloading to have a trike-gear for hauling the Spridgets around, would seem a
C123 or C119 would fit the bill. But yeah, with a C130 you could haul a bunch
more! What is that addage, something like "When the last C17 is flown in to
Davis-Monthan, there'll be a C130 there to pick up the crew".
Dan
----- Original Message -----
From: b-evans@earthlink.net
To: Dan Gillitzer
Cc: spridgets@autox.team.net
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 10:55 AM
Subject: Re: P.S. Can anyone think of anything else we should obsess over?
Dan Gillitzer wrote:
How would you get an LBC into a Gooney Bird? Maybe a C123 would work better
than either the DC3 OR the C130....
It is relatively simple. Simply consider it a peice of cargo, then ramp it
up through the cargo hatch. The C-47 and R4D (the military Gooney Bird
versions of the DC-3), did not have the DC-3's passenger door. Instead they
had a set of double doors that could be opened flat to the fuselage.
I came close to being a victim of such a prank when some Navy buddies got in
cahoots with an R4D plane captain and a Special Services Officer.
Fortunately, the plane captain, and AD1, got busted for being drunk on duty,
and lost his aircraft. My buddies were always pulling pranks with my Sprite,
by picking it up and turning it around. I was reminded of it years later when
Budweiser came out with an ad that showed a bunch of college guys doing it to
a Sprite!
Buster Evans
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