Flying the Old Ones: The DC-3 and the BU2000 Trimotor
Chris Grotewohl ATP, CFI, CFII,  MEI, DPE.

I currently fly the Turbine DC3 out of Olathe Kansas at the New Century Airport (IXD). There are six of the turbine 3's there at this time. These airplanes came out of South Africa and were South African Air Force aircraft. I also will be instructing in these airplanes.
The turbine 3 is a joy to fly. It has a good solid feel and has much more stability than the trimotor. With reversible props, landings can be made with the ground roll greatly shortened. The engines are Pratt@Whitney PT6A-65AR engines rated at 1425 SHP. This airplane is a Greenwich conversion. It is a 1943 C-47. Cruise is 200kts TAS. Vref speed for me is 85 KIAS on final. Turbine engines are a little tricky on take off and the spool up is often unpredictable. The co-pilots job is to normally manage the power levers for equal torque. Uneven torque on take off can yaw the plane which is not real cool in a tailwheel airplane. The tail comes up around 40 Knots or so and V2 is around 80 knots. These airplanes are nicely equipped with flight directors, HSI's, RMI's, color radar and all the works. My instructor pilot was Bill Dempsay. He has lots of hours in many large aircraft and was a fire bomber pilot out west. He is also an examiner for these birds. I love round engines and I'm type rated in piston 3s. but then again, the PT6's are cool also. 2001  Dodson's piston DC3 has the Wright engines. John Travolta owned this plane in the 80's. There are a few pictures later of the piston 3. 2002 Finally got the ATP in the DC3TP.

The Bushmaster trimotor has three PW 985 engines rated at 450 HP each. This airplane performs great with one engine out and is actually overpowered with all three operating. I use about 30" MP for take off which is 75% and it performs great. The trimotor holds 366 gallons of fuel and we usually burn around 60 gallons per hour. It has two speeds, slow and stop. Actually, it has a cruise speed of 115 mph and just lumbers through the air like ship on the ocean. The control response is very slow, in fact full deflection of any control surface at cruise does very little, eventually the plane responds but one needs to be ahead of the plane on landings. I usually plan my flare out way in advance knowing a few seconds later the plane will actually respond. The ship is identical to a Ford 5AT except it has a dorsal fin, aileron trim and the fuselage is a little wider. The re-creation was a brainstorm of William Stout after Ford terminated the production of the trimotor. Bushmaster built two of these ships. It is great fun to fly and miserable to land in crosswinds. I taught the owner, Jerry Brown to fly her. I really love this machine and it really draws attention. There are two of these airplanes in existence, and roughly 5-6 flyable trimotors left in the world. This airplane served in Alaska and Siberia for many years, barnstormed in the 70s by Chuck LeMaster and also did some museum time in San Diego and in Maine. It is currently at New Century along with the DC3's. *Update* Well, the plane has gone through another annual and the wheels and brakes had to be replaced. Found the parts down in Texas, they are Lockheed Lodestar wheels and brakes with 737 tires. The airplane is eventually California bound. *Update* Been making test hops in her, checking systems before the flight to California. Had the brakes adjusted, and now troubleshooting the center generator. Took the plane to the KC Expo on AUG 12-13 and she was popular. Plan to leave for California on Aug 25th. Should be 15-16 flight hours. Made the trip and it was great. The plane is now based at the Pasa Robles airport in California. UPDATE* Jerry Brown owner, was killed in a R22 in May of 2002. A sad day in Aviation. 2003 Greg Herrick purchased the plane. Flew her back to Minnesota, 4 /03