Reflecting on the DC-3 at 75

According to Donald Douglas Snr, when American Airlines President Cyrus Rowlett Smith, or “CR”, placed the commitment that launched the DC-3 in 1934 he was in “a cold sweat, because he just didn’t have the money to pay for them. ” As the DC-3 celebrates the 75th anniversary of its December 17 1935 first flight, that aspect of aviation at least has not changed, although almost everything else has, thanks to the aircraft that taught the world to fly.

The birth of arguably the world’s greatest aircraft was anything but auspicious.