Fascinating. I guess the owners drive the planes down the road from their homes then have them turned for taxiing down the ramp into the water. I never imagined the sci-fi prediction of folks commuting by airplane would ever happen, but here's proof....well sorta.
I think these are the tourist planes. Turned to store and rotate to launch. The small auto gate at the far end is no way big enough to get one of these aircraft through. http://blogs.dailybreeze.com/history/2010/02/17/seaplanes-to-catalina/
Please realize my tongue was planted firmly in my cheek. As my sig sez, I never have to grow up, regardless of my age, and boy, does that ever confuse folks. ~-o)
I don't recall ever reading or hearing such an item existed. Must have been unique to that location. I wonder if it still exists?
From what I can see if this pic from a PC flight SIM, it was north of the Casino...on Google Maps There is something that resembles the amphibian ramp, but it's location does not match up with the geography in the the first picture. [FONT=Arial, helvetica]According to Chris Bell (who maintains the website www.catalinagoose.com which is replete with pictures of seemingly every seaplane that ever landed at this airport),[/FONT] “[FONT=Arial, helvetica]In 1931, Philip Wrigley helped design a unique airport at Hamilton Cove, the 2[SUP][FONT=Arial, helvetica]nd[/FONT][/SUP] [FONT=Arial, helvetica]cove north of Avalon,[/FONT][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, helvetica]to accommodate the Douglas Dolphin 'Amphibion' planes of the Wilmington-Catalina Air Line, Ltd., a Wrigley-operated firm.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, helvetica]The twin-engine Dolphins landed just offshore & would taxi up a ramp to a large turntable mechanism.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, helvetica]The airplane would then be rotated until it was facing the water & ready for a trip back to the mainland.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, helvetica]A small Spanish-style terminal building welcomed residents, business people & tourists to Catalina.”[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, helvetica]There was also a large hanger behind the terminal building. [/FONT]
Now all they need to do is mount an old battleship catapult and they could have some real fun! On a more serious note, that is a neat setup.
I don't think so. Too big in my opinion. I guess these were airliners of the era when floatplanes were kings, and when there wasn't any land airfield at Santa Catalina, before the end of the 30's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalina_Airport I've been lucky enough to land at Santa Catalina at the beginning of the 2000's, not least than on the right hand seat of a DC3 I had the controls of until about 500' AGL, and it was an awesome experience for me... Try to imagine landing on a 2000' high aircraft carrier...:teeth: Dom
Ouch, nothing like jamming the yoke through your gut into your spine while standing on the brake pedals. BTW, that's a very pretty Gooney. Is she still flying?
I had one ride in a DC3. It was in a nasty thunderstorm out from Houston. Bleh. I wasn't exactly thrilled. But we got to our destination...
I'd always read that the DC3 was one of the safest and forgiving aircraft ever built. Though years ago I read a USAF safety manual that said "even the venerable Gooney will do a pirouette on the end of the runway if you're not paying attention."
[ As far as I know, not anymore. She was the property of Mr John Pappas, living in Orange County, CA. This aircraft was above all his business, beeing the sole operator delivering DC3 type rating in the area, and beeing contracted to perform some charters as well as cargo flights from Corona to Catalina twice a week. When John decided to retire he ferry flew his DC3 to .... Brazil, where he gave a museum his airplane. I don't exactly know where, Brazil is an huge country, but I believe she rests in good place. Maybe one could search "Rose DC3" on Google... Yeah, I flew her but without any sort of type rating. After 15000 hours of heavy turbine equipped airplanes I'm still missing to be rated on a powerful piston powered airplane... (the most powerful piston powered acft I have ever been rated on beeing the 2 x 180 hp Beech Be 76 Duchess...) I have been lucky enough to be invited on the right hand seat while airborne, enough for me to hand fly the airplane and to realize the flight control's high quality of efficiency and smoothness of that 3/4 of century old airplane. But on final approach, of course the captain kept the control again. However, it was an awesome experience!! Dom
Like on every taildragger: as the center of gravity is aft of the main landing gear, there is a trend to be unsteady on ground and you have not to be rusty on the rudder pedals... Dom
I've heard and read the same. But when you're being bounced up and down, the plane is rattling, creaking and groaning, with all of us looking at each other, the stewardess pasty faced and hanging on for her dear life, confidence levels sort of slip....
50-60 years ago I was sitting in the forward most cabin seat of a commercial DC-3, just forward of the wing leading edge. We were on a short low-altitude hop through New Hampshire mountain country. The DC-3 is noted for its tendency to yaw in turbulent air, which I noted by seeing the leading edge appear to go forward then backward relative to the ground. I also had discovered that our only stewardess had just received her wings, and was on her first solo flight. There were only 3-4 passengers remaining on this final leg, so I beckoned the stewardess to look out my window and asked if the airplane was supposed to be flying backwards. She immediately raced forward through the flight deck door. She returned about a minute later, very red-faced and refusing to look at me. After we landed, the skipper quickly came aft to my seat and said for me NEVER to do that again, then laughed his tail off. Needless to say, I never did do that again...never had the opportunity if truth be known.
When I first went to work for Lockheed back in 1961, the company had leased a DC-3 from the late test pilot Bill Park, and it was the normal transportation between Burbank and Palmdale, CA. I spent many hours in that DC-3. A few years later when test pilot Ed Brown had been undeservedly demoted (after saving an F-104 and some very important test missiles by dead sticking it into Edwards AFB, Ed flew the DC-3 and was very proficient at three point landings. Ed was proficient at everything he flew. Now, being a taildragger, as my old instructor pilot told me, there are those who have ground-looped and those who WILL ground-loop. I'm a member of the former.
