DC-3 Winter Series 22/23

This one is for the fans of classic airliners. The Douglas DC-3 from Aeroplane Heaven recently dropped on Microsoft Flight Simulator for free and we are taking her out for a spin. ~16000 DC-3 airframes have been built worldwide and only a few of them are still around. The addition of this iconic plane to MSFS2020 finally allows us to experience the joys of early commercial aviation.

In this series, we are evading winter in Europe. A few stops in the Alps are planned to get acquainted with the airplane, amongst which are Samedan in Switzerland and Innsbruck in Austria. After that we are South bound for Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Greece.

The best way to fly a DC-3 is low and slow, so we will focus on VFR flight plans whenever possible. We are also going to be on VATSIM as much as possible. Flying VFR on VATSIM is an entirely different experience to the usual IFR procedures. Much of the real world seems to seep in here, as VFR airplanes rightly or wrongly appear to get lower priority with ATC. We also experienced extremely helpful and competent controllers along the way, of course.

Together with copilot Dan we are trying to follow as many of the real world procedures as possible. This is not a single pilot airplane and at an age of almost 90 years, she's a bit prone to failures and hickups. Random failures and wear and tear require almost constant monitoring of the airplane's systems, proper use of checklist and memory items and add a lot of realism to the experience.

Over the next few days, we will be releasing individual legs of the DC-3 winter tour. We are happy to welcome you on board, should you so chose.