DC 3 Dakota Flight (11.11.2007)

For quite some time I was keen on flying on the DC 3 (ZK-DAK / NZ 3546) that I have often seen buzzing over Auckland, but never really made it. Same with the good old Catalina. I have been booked on the Catalina for three Sundays in a row, and all were cancelled (one due to bad weather, one due to not enough bookings, and one due to maintenance problems). Well, my friend Servaas from Amsterdam was here last week, and since he is an aviation enthusiast as well, we booked a DC 3 flight for last Sunday. And continuing with my bad luck, the flight had to be cancelled due to poor weather as well. We went to have a look at Ardmore anyway, and saw the DC 3 parked in the rain, right next to the tower.

Last Sunday

On Tuesday I got an e-mail from the DC 3 guys, asking if we are keen to go this Sunday, since they'd have two flights scheduled (11am and 12pm). Well, Servaas wasn't here anymore, but I thought I'd give it another try. And the weather forecast was just ok, i.e. sun in the morning, with showers coming in during the afternoon. I was glad that I was booked on the earlier flight, and hopeful that the weather would last... I showed up a bit early to have a snoop around the airfield and take some photos. There were quite a few historic planes, as well as many common small props, such as Cessnas, Tecnams, Pipers, etc... The DC 3 was parked at the far side of the field behind the tower, but I could see that the door was open, so there was hope! So far, the weather had been fabulous! Eventually, the bird appeared from behind the tower and taxied across the airfield to the Warbirds Headquarter. And what a beauty she is. Just came out of a long maintenance time, and got a new paint scheme, from the old olive military livery to the white RNZAF livery.

my boarding pass

Finally, it was time for boarding, and Andrew (pilot in command) gave a good talk about the history of the DC 3 (built in 1942), and introduced Lesley, our flight attendant. Lesley wore the 1960s uniform of NAC (predecessor of Air New Zealand). She herself has been a flight attendant since 1968, and worked on the DC 3, the Vickers Viscount, and the Fokker 27 Friendship. She is now - as all crew - volunteering for the scenic DC 3 flights here in Auckland.

Captain Andrew and flight attendant Lesley at the briefing

Lesley at the safety briefing on board

I had seat 8A, which was the window seat in the last row on the left side. I had this seat pre-booked and it turned out to be the best seat on the plane (except the pilot's seat, of course). Because it was in the rear of the aircraft, I had an unobstructed view, whereas most other seats looked onto the wing. Row eight on the right side was missing, so I could even get up and look out of the window there, when there was something to see on the right side. I was actually quite impressed how large the cabin was. I expected it to be smaller and more cramped, but we had regular aircraft seats and a good seat pitch as well. The next thing that surprised me was how relatively quiet the cabin was. I expected sort of a thunder when the engines were started, and a continuous roaring throughout the flight. But it was actually more a hum, but with that special sound of the old props. Take-off was easy and smooth, and during the flight we had quite a few bumps, as announced by Andrew during the briefing. During the flight, Lesley invited all passengers, row by row, to the cockpit. It was interesting to see the workplace on the old DC 3, compared to the super modern cockpit of the B 777-200 of Air New Zealand I had a chance to see in February after we landed in Osaka (thanks to First Officer Michael Slater, who is the son of my colleague Kathy, and gave me that special treat!).

Heading towards Rangitoto Island (the volcano straight ahead)

Two beautiful views on downtown Auckland. My apartment is just two blocks to the left from the Skytower...

This is One Tree Hill. Unfortunately, the "one" tree has been gone for quite some time now, after vandals had damaged it beyond recovery. It is one of the many volcanic hills we have in Auckland.

During the briefing Andrew promised us that he'll ask ATC for permission to fly past Auckland international airport. He didn't seem to be positive about this, saying that recently they had frequently been denied clearance for this. But we were lucky, and could see the airport on our right, and even a B 777 of Air New Zealand touching down.

The nice spacious cabin of ZK-DAK

Far too soon the 30 minutes were up and we touched down back at Ardmore, after a wonderful flight over the Hauraki Gulf, Rangitoto Island, the city, and the international airport. After disembarking, we had a chance to walk around the aircraft and take some more photos, before the second flight for the day boarded.

I stuck around for a bit longer and watched the traffic at Ardmore. In particular, I was waiting for the second flight, so that I could take some photos of the DC 3 taking off, and landing 30 minutes later...

take-off run

ZK-DAK climbing out of Ardmore (AMZ)

And just 30 minutes later she is back on finals...

...touching down...

...rolling to the end of the runway...

...and taxiing back to the headquarter.

The weather was still great, and stayed so all day - none of the predicted showers came to Auckland today! Perfect flying conditions and a wonderful flight on one of the most popular and most successful aircraft in aviation history! Now I have to call the Catalina guys again, and see when over the summer they have another trip scheduled. Today, the aircraft was not at Ardmore, but I am sure it will be back soon...