(no subject)

[winterbadger]

I really didn't expect to be this upset by something this early in the morning.

But I was looking for this story from NPR about a free health care event held recently in West Virginia (followed by a similar event in LA organised by the same group).

And I also hit the website for the group, called Reach Across America.

Where I learned that they use C-47, also known as DC-3 or Dakota, transport aircraft to get their supplies and equipment from place to place.

Any of you who are among my wargaming/military history buff friends will likely know the C-47 from its pivotal role as a military aircraft. The C-47 was used to drop US paratroops over Normandy and British paras over Arnhem, to bring supplies to Bastogne and across the "Hump" from India to China. The plane my Dad hopped on in 1942, to spend hours flying in the freezing cold over the Himalayas, so as to spend part of his 21st birthday in Chengdu "because it was better than sitting around the barracks" was probably a C-47.

Folks, they stopped making these planes in 1945. They were great planes, but they are older than *I* am. By 20 years.

And that's what this group of volunteers is depending on to move medical supplies they are giving away for free to people who have no other hope for healthcare.

Please consider donating to their appeal for funds for an upgraded aircraft. I know I will be giving them what I can.

Comments

[skill-grl.livejournal.com]

In Alaska, the standard cargo airplane is the DC-3. Circa WWII. So, yeah. We have a MAJOR problem for the distribution of aid/supplies nationwide. In many cases, the older planes are the only even semi-reliable thing anyone can afford that can land on the shorter runways available to them.

Now, you just hope the people aren't using one of the DC-3s built when aluminum was in short supply. Some of those have body parts made of magnesium (similar properties. mostly. one big, big difference).

[winterbadger]

Is it very brittle in cold?

Aluminum is a great material for bodywork in some respects, but it burns almost as well as magnesium. Yes, many scientists claim that aluminum does not burn, but tell that to the crew of HMS Sheffield, a Royal Navy warship built from aluminum which caught fire in 1982 when hit by an Argentine missile and burned to the waterline.

[skill-grl.livejournal.com]

Magnesium burns at a lower temp. Airplanes sorta regularly fell out of the air as their skins combusted.

But, yeah. That's the category of problem.

[cmlc.livejournal.com]

I'm appalled all over again :-( Those things are legal to fly?

[winterbadger]

There were, I think, 16,000 built, of which, if I recall correctly, about 300 are still flying. From what my other commentor says, most of them apparently in Alaska (the ones that aren't used for making WWII movies--even allowing for tricky camera and film manipulation, there must have been dozens of them in "A Bridge Too Far"--though that was made 30 years ago...)

Yeah, appalled is about how I feel. Just knowing that's what my dad's buddies flew says it all for me.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Hit the drop-zone
C-47 comes in low
Feel the tap on your leg
That says it's time to go
See the circle
Of the fire down below
Fifteen of us jumped
Above the cold Missouri water

That song's about the Mann Gulch fire, in the summer of 1949. Yeah, those things are getting old.

On the other hand, they're not the only ancient military aircraft. There are B-52s still in active service that were built in the 50s. Marine Corps medium lift helicopter squadrons are still flying CH-46 helicopters built in the early 60s. (There are stories of helicopters in HMX-1 that have been flown by three generations of pilots from the same family.) Also, in many respects it's easier to keep one of those vintage warbirds in good repair than a more modern aircraft, provided you can find the repair parts.

[winterbadger]

I just heard Richard Shindell sing that ("Cold Missouri Waters" by James Keelaghan) last week! I love hearing him do it, and, yes, when I saw the reference to them I thought of that too.

And, yes, there are certainly many other old birds still flying.

One thing I thought was interesting about the C-47 was that it had been licensed before WWII to both Russia and Japan. Two companies manufactured it in Japan, and it was used in their military as well as ours!