When Flying Was Fun

DC-3 0n ramp"When I grow up I want to be a pilot, because it's a fun job and easy to do. Pilots don't need much school. I guess they should be able to read a road map . . . I hope I don't get air-sick because then I could not be a pilot and so I would have to go to work."1

Do you think there's more to flying than presetting a Flight Management Computer, twiddling an Autopilot, or entering way-points into a GPS? You bet there is.

DC-3 Airways, a 1950s Virtual Airline, is devoted exclusively to DC-3 enthusiasts. Pilots here fly the DC-3, the world's greatest aircraft, using the techniques of the late 1940s and early 1950s, When Flying was Fun!

Navigation aids were plentiful, too. All airliners had Automatic Direction Finders, VORs were rapidly appearing, and the ILS had been in place for many years. The Sperry autopilot, a magnificent invention, was also prevalent in airliners and it greatly eased the pilot's workload, even if they did view it with some suspicion -- "What's the sense of getting in the cockpit if a robot is going to fly the airplane!"

Even more joy, hubs had not yet been invented. Airlines flew their routes from point to point rather than forcing passengers to assemble at a centralized hub. So Regions define DC-3 Airways' routes, not major metropolitan cities.

We welcome pilots who use any commercially available flight simulator software, including Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, Flight Simulator X, X-Plane 10 and 11.

Our VA presently has over 3000 flights in the United States and throughout the world, including a very extensive Charter Division. Many more routes are in the works right now, and we also feature a recent change in our operations to allow pilots to create and fly their own routes.

DC-3 Airways is proud of its unique Training Division, a project that was nearly a year in development. A detailed, well-illustrated Manual is the heart of the Ground School and provides information on every aspect of the DC-3.

Want to fly online, with air traffic control? You're at the right place; DC-3 Airways is a Partner VA with VATSIM. Our Airline ID is DCA. We also have an excellent online Multiplayer program, with regularly scheduled sessions three times a week all over the world.

DC-3 Airways' passengers relax in the deep-seated comfort of our deluxe fourteen-passenger Douglas DC-3s. Today's business- and leisure-class passengers can only shake their heads in disbelief at how fine airline travel was in the good-old-days of DC-3 Airways.

I hope that you enjoy a very special flying experience with DC-3 Airways.

Charles Wood,
Founder

1A child's view, FAA's Aviation News: "Why I want to be a pilot."