Super Gooney Bird

The Douglas Super Gooney bird C-117 is the post-war military jacked variant of the DC-3.  Ike called the DC-3 one of 4 most valuable machines (the Atom bomb, the Jeep and the Bazooka) in winning the war that ended all wars (but wait . . . )  Between its plants in Long Beach, Oklahoma City and Santa Monica, Douglas Aircraft Company made over 10,000 DC-3’s for the Army, Navy, the British and our Soviet Allies. War profiteers looked at the end of the war with the same palpable desperation as barfly without a hookup at last call.  As a glut of these surplus airliners collapsed on the market like a fat girl on a hammock, you can always depend on the latent creativity of bureaucrats to stick it to the little guy.  New aviation regulations made many of these serviceable aircraft unserviceable.  Douglas came up with a gimmick to rebrand these DC-3s to conform to the new regs that included new outer wing panels, a longer fuselage and tail unit, engine nacelles that fully enclosed the undercarriage, and more powerful R-1820-80 engines.  The smaller airlines that Douglas target marketed could not afford it.  But with a little fairy dust from rent seekers, the military discovered they wanted the Super Gooney Bird after all.  Born in Oklahoma City, she served in the Army Air Corps in 1943 and the Navy in 1944.  In 1952, she became a Super Gooney.  A Naval Aviator assigned to VRF-32 (a ferry squadron) named Ray Berger claims he flew her in 1952. In 1961, the Marines got her.  In 1974, she retired in 1974.  Photographed in 1991, she looked rough.  by 1996, she looked fine.

SPECIFICATIONS
Wingspan: 90 ft
Length: 67 ft 9 in
Height: 18 ft 3 in
Weight: 31,000 lbs (loaded)
Max. Speed: 270 mph
Service Ceiling: 22,500 ft
Range: 2,500 miles
Engines: 2 Wright R-1820-80, 1,475 horsepower each
Crew: 3, 35 passengers

They say over 400 DC-3s still fly!


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