What Is DCA?
System Requirements
Membership
Membership Status
Membership Dismissal
Non-Commercial Nature
Pilot Instruction
Navigational Tutorial
Promotions
Route Bidding
Hub System
Credit for Flight Time
On-Line Flying
Charter Flights
Partner VAs
Feedback
Management Opportunities
Change Log
Although we are called DC-3 Airways and fly all derivatives of the
Douglas DC-3, we have now adopted the Douglas DC-2 and the Douglas DC-4 and
its derivatives, for which there is an ever growing number of suitable
flights becoming available.
The DC-3 Airways home base is located at Logan Airport (KBOS) in Boston, MA, but serves
customers worldwide with regularly-scheduled flights, charter flights, and pilot-created flights
To participate in this VA, virtual pilots must have Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 (FS9) or later, Lockheed-Martin Prepar3d v2 or later, or X-Plane 10 or later installed. See your perticular choice of software's specific system requirements, as they differ from one platform to another.
Back to TopDC-3 Airways is open to any who wish to join and participate. To become a DC-3 Airways pilot, go to the
Join Page, and enter and submit
the requested information. When membership is confirmed, the pilot's name
will be listed on the DC-3 Airways Roster page.
DC-3 Airways will assign a pilot number to each pilot upon joining the
VA. The pilot should provide their pilot number whenever reporting
flights, PIREPs, or in any other correspondence.
A DC-3 Airways pilot remains on the active roster as long as they complete the required training flights in the allotted amount of time, and then at least one flight per six-month period. The data is accumulated based on PIREPs that pilots submit via our PIREP system.
If an event or events prevent a pilot from meeting the minimum flight hours, please notify management
to prevent any misunderstandings.
If a DC-3 Airways pilot fails to meet the flight-time requirement for their
current rank, he or she listed as "Inactive" on the roster. However, a pilot who
has been listed as inactive due to inactivity will be reactivated
simply by submitting a PIREP. They will retain their pilot number and credit
for all previous flight hours on reinstatement. An exception to this is when
a pilot has been removed from the roster for inactivity, and having recorded
a total of less than ten hours or has been inactive for more than one year. In this case a pilot wishing
to reactivate
his account will be treated as a “New Join” and must begin again with a new
pilot number and with zero hours.
DC-3 Airways was established for the enjoyment of the flight-sim
community. If a member becomes disruptive, abusive or attempts to bring this
Virtual Airline down as determined by a staff member, he or she will be dismissed.
It is hoped that dismissal procedures will never become necessary, however,
this is an open site and people of all types populate the Internet, so,
regrettably, one must be prepared.
A full back-up of this VA's software is maintained at an off-site location
as protection against mischief.
Pilot's names, addresses, or e-mail addresses will never be given out,
sold, or rented to any commercial organization.
If DC-3 Airways becomes aware of a particularly useful product or software
utility, pertinent information may be passed on to the members. This is not
spam in disguise as too often happens on the Internet. Be assured that a
product or software utility will not be promoted for any personal financial
gain of the VA or any VA management, including accepting free copies of
those products.
DC-3 Airways expects pilots applying for membership to be familiar and
experienced to some degree with their preferred flight simulation software.
One needn't be an expert. However, the pilot should have at least a few
hours of experience with flight simulation and be able to perform basic maneuvers, navigate properly,
and be familiar with simulator function. Our Forum is an excellent place
where questions will almost always receive sensible and helpful replies.
This website contains a major instructional section pertaining specifically
to the DC-3. All pilots will benefit by reading through that section.
All new pilots must complete the six Type-Rating flights before flying any
other flights. In total, this is less than 3½ hours of flight time. These
flights will familiarize new pilots with the flight characteristics of the
DC-3 and exposesthem to the ILS, VOR and NDB IFR approaches. Ten Bonus
hours are credited on completion of these flights. All will be better DC-3
pilots after completing these flights. These flights are for experience
only; there are no tests associated with them.
Back to Top
A separate and comprehensive tutorial is available for pilots to learn all
aspects of Navigation. The Tutorial can be viewed here…
http://www.navfltsm.addr.com
One can fly most of that tutorial's practice flights with any publicly or commercially available DC-3. DC-3 Airways members will be granted PIREP credit for any of those flights that are flown with a DC-3. Consider this a "Sanctioned Event."
Back to TopPromotions are granted based on hours flown. No other factor enfluences promotions. The ranks and required hours flown are listed in the table below (* indicates a senior pilot rank).
| RANK | HOURS |
|---|---|
| FlightEngineer | On Joining |
| Second Officer | 10 Hours |
| First Officer | 20 Hours |
| Captain | 40 Hours |
| Sr. Captain | 80 Hours |
| ATP Captain | 140 Hours |
| Charter Captain | 220 Hours |
| Command Captain | 350 Hours |
| Line Captain | 600 Hours |
| *President's Pilot | 1,000 Hours |
| *Chief Pilot | 2,000 Hours |
| *Fleet Captain | 3,000 Hours |
| *Founder's Pilot | 4,000 Hours |
| *Sr. Founder's Pilot | 5,000 Hours |
Pilots need not bid routes on DC-3 Airways. Simply select a charter,
route, or create your own flight. Once your flight is completed, simply file a PIREP for it.
All new pilots must fly and report flights 1201 through 1206 included in the
Type-Rating Schedule. You may not fly and report any other flight until
these mandatory flights are completed and correctly reported.
The hub and spoke system of routes did not exist in the '40s and '50s era of this Virtual Airline. DC-3 Airways' routes directly connect many more cities than a hub system. The larger cities, of course, have more departures and arrivals, and thus may give the appearance of a hub.
Back to TopTowards the end of 2007 DC-3 Airways introduced the very popular concept
of 'Free Flight'. This meant that as well as having the option of claiming
flight hours for all the other forms of flight credit; you may now create
and fly your own flight plan between any two airports in the world.
To submit a PIREP after making a Free Flight, you must include the ICAO
codes for the departure and arrival airports. If a flight is broken into
legs, each leg of the flight must be submitted on a separate PIREP. An example of a Free Flight PIREP is
shown below...
Pilot #: 0393
Name: Robert Betts
Flight Number: KVPZ-KIND
Minutes Flown: 51
Comments: Valparaiso, IN to Indianapolis, IN FS9 ATC - IFR @ 5000 ft
Aircraft approved for PIREP submission include the following;
All flights are to be flown with no acceleration of the simulator rate. You may set the simulator's time and date as desired, but the sim rate must stay at 1.0 or actual time.
The time to report may be recorded one of two ways. When we first began operations in 1999, time was kept from the start of the take-off roll to the completion of the roll-out. Around late 2010, it was decided that there is an inherant skill in taxiing the Gooney, so if a pilot so chooses, time from and to the gate may be claimed. This is not mandatory, however, and it is completely at the pilot's discretion.
Back to TopThere are currently three available options for online flying;
Currently, DC-3 Airways has no official affiliation with either VATSIM or IVAO. However, both networks are available options for free-flight activities. There is no special PIREP procedures, and flights should be filed as free flights (FF).
Formal MP Events flown on Saturdays, Sundays, and Tuesdays, or an otherwise designated special event (Operation Market Garden, Operation Varsity, etc), are eligible for flight credit. The Vice President - Flight Ops or his designee will assign the PIREP number for that event if it is not already a posted DCA flight. These flights should be reported as multiplayer (MP) flights using the flight information given in the description of the event. This information is usually posted on the forum several days in advence of the event.
Back to TopDC-3 Airways welcomes and encourages the submission of Charter Flights designed by member pilots. For details see the menu - Flights/Charters/Info/Charter Submission.
Back to TopDC-3 Airways may partner with another Virtual Airline or Airlines with
route structures suitable for a DC-3. The DC-3, unless re-tanked for ferry
flights, cannot fly non-stop across the
DC-3 Airways encourages constructive feedback, whether positive or
negative, from pilots or other visitors to this site. The VA can only
improve with feedback. Quite simply, what should be changed, added, dumped,
or whatever?
DC-3 Airways pilots should always provide their membership number in any
communication with the VA.
Management opportunities are occasionally available at DC-3 Airways. If
you are eager and enthusiastic, we welcome your help, even if only for a
single task. Please offer your assistance if you see something that needs to
be done or somewhere that you can help. You only need to email a staff member. The president can be
reached at Andy Hatcher's Email, or you may choose to email our
Vice President-Flight Ops, Glen Broome. Perhaps the best
way to get a message to any staff member and other pilots is through the use of our forum. Remember, however, that you will not have access
to our forum until after you have completed all six training flights, at which time you will be added to
the forum and emailed your login information.
Thank you.
Charles Wood,
Founder
Version 1.7 edited 18 November 2024
Version 1.6 edited 13 October 2021
Version 1.5 edited 31 May 2021
Version 1.4 edited 29 April 2021
Version 1.3.1 edited 28 April 2021
Version 1.3 edited 6 March 2021
Version 1.2 edited 21 April 2020
Version 1.1 edited 21 August 2017