This December 17th came and went without notice, but it was a special day. That day in 1935 marked the first flight of the venerable Douglas DC-3.
Five years later, on Christmas Eve 1940, Delta flew its first revenue DC-3 flight with “Ship 41.”
Since I’ve been lucky enough to fly this fully restored, original in every detail, DC-3, I thought I’d write a little about the “Ship 41” in Delta’s Heritage Museum.
“Ship 41” was actually the second of five DC-3s purchased by Delta. The first arrived November 29, 1940 and was used to train pilots for the next DC-3s to arrive. “Ship 41” arrived on December 23, 1940 and carried passengers the next day. Three more planes were delivered in the next 10 days. These and the additional DC-3s Delta purchased flew in revenue service until the early 1960s.
Here are a few pictures of Delta’s award winning, 1940 DC-3 known as “Ship 41.” I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.
Tailwinds, Robin
ShareThis

Hello everyone.