Favor: Manhandling a DC-3 Question

[Tim_Capps 474]

I found nothing online about this, and I suspect that C-47s had to be manhandled sometimes. Does anyone have any idea how many men it would take to move a DC-3 into a hangar by hand? It does have wheels, but it's also 8 tons. If not, does anyone know the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? I'm trying to get over to the excellent little aviation museum in Kansas City (actually there are two, but I have not been to the TWA one yet) and someone there would probably know, but thought I'd try here. Thanks!

[dmwalker 604]

44 minutes ago, Tim_Capps said:

Does anyone have any idea how many men it would take to move a DC-3 into a hangar by hand?

Anywhere from one:

to twenty five:

 

[Penzoil3 480]

Is that a European swallow, or an African swallow? And how does it carry the coconut ?

[dmwalker 604]

23 hours ago, Tim_Capps said:

Does anyone have any idea how many men it would take to move a DC-3 into a hangar by hand?

PMDG might know since they have one.

[Tim_Capps 474]

 

Sorry for the delay, friends, and thank you for the responses. I've been finishing my initial 90k word draft of an aviation adventure novel and this was the only absolute dead end I ran into. PMDG is a great idea; I did not know that. One nice thing is when all else fails, a writer can just add "enough" men to get the job done. I was supposed to get all the way from Manassas to Ushuaia, but only got as far as Mayaguana in the eastern Bahamas. But 90k words is already very long by today's standards, so I'll be into the next after the usual editing, rewrite/de-write and finding someone else to proof.

An airplane story practically writes itself, and flight simulation is very helpful. Stick some people with secrets inside a tube with a million things that can go wrong, and just sit back and watch. When you get tired of that, have them land somewhere and encounter other people with whom to have conflicts. Possibly armed ones, depending on how you're feeling that day. (Yeah, it's pretty pulpy.) Amazon has changed publishing a lot, for better and for worse. The better would start me on a rant that would probably offend some and bore everyone. So would the worse, come to think of it. Let's just say the biggest laugh I've had in years was watching Nine Perfect Strangers, a pretty bad HULU series. But Melissa McCarthy plays a writer and she's on the phone complaining that her editor won't let her describe the appearance of her main female character.

Yup. Sometimes you might not need to. But sometimes it's a plot point. Hello Draft2Digital. Glad I don't have to do this for the money.

 

Edited September 28, 2022 by Tim_Capps

[Chock 17,769]

Here a DC-2 in the 1934 MacRobertson air race, being hauled from mud on Albury racecourse by the local residents. The ropes are attached to the main landing gear. Other photos from this occasion show at least sixty people are pulling the thing, but this is on wet boggy ground so that is understandable as it would take a lot to get the thing moving.

On dry ground and a reasonably flat surface, I should think 10-15 people could get a DC-3 rolling, based on the fact that with 12 other people, I've moved a Dornier 328, which is approximately 20,000 lbs when empty, and a DC-3 is about 16,000 lbs empty, so it should be a fairly similar task to when we moved that Dornier.

Edited October 4, 2022 by Chock

[Fielder 3,675]

 

Propeller problems. Hand starting a Douglas DC3 (Dakota) aircraft with a faulty starter motor at Imbaimadai, a jungle airstrip in Guyana, South America in August 1970. And the aircraft took off and flew accross 200 miles of jungle to georgetown. imbaimadai is (was?) a small settlement of gold and diamond prospectors.

https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/propeller-problems-hand-starting-a-douglas-dc3-dakota-aircraft-with-a-faulty-starter-motor-at-imbaimadai-a-jungle-airstrip-in-guyana-south-america-in-august-1970-322926a

 

 

Crew hand starting the port engine of the DC-3 Bluebonnet Belle. September 24, 1947 - American Air Force Base at Coral Harbor, Nunavut - Crew of the DC-3 Bluebonnet Belle hand starting the port engine after the starter motor had quit. On a rescue mission to save Canon John H. Turner who had accidently shot himself at Moffet Inlet, Baffin Island. Gouache painting.

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/crew-hand-starting-the-port-engine-of-the-dc-royalty-free-illustration/506837735