This nice and shiny plane is the “Esther Mae.” It is a Douglas DC3 that was built in December, 1945 and is the only DC3-3D that is still in flying condition. This photo is from its appearance at the 2010 Experimental Aircraft Association Annual Fly-in. It is my contribution to this week’s Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Shiny.
After much deep and thoughtful consideration I decided that this object – the wing of the particular airplane in which I happened to be seated – was most likely metallic rather than some high-tech composite. My decision was based on two things: first: the wing looks more or less metallic. Second and much more convincing to me was the basic fact that I was on the airplane to which this wing was attached. Given where I live. I never get to fly on the latest and greatest airplanes with composite wings and other fancy equipment. ‘Nuf said, Metallic.
The Esther Mae is a sharp-looking, but admittedly metallic, lady. She shows off her stuff here at the Experimental Aircraft Association Annual Fly-in held in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA.
On a recent trip we had some bad weather at one of our stops that required our plane to be de-iced. It was very late at night and the snow was falling as the guy working the de-icing equipment carefully sprayed down our plane. I was really grateful he was out on such a cold, snowy night working to help us on out way home. De-icing a plane is critical because the build-up of ice on the plane’s surface can add a huge amount of weight to the plane in addition to affecting the plane’s handling. De-icing is usually done by spraying aircraft with a de-icing fluid based on propylene glycol, which is non-toxic.
On the edge of more change than one would want the pilot of this plane was able to successfully recover from what looked like sure disaster.
I think it is fair to call this loop (performed by an aerobatic (or stunt) pilot at an air show in Minot, North Dakota) a circle, but as always comments are appreciated.
