Cockpit Door Reg More Than Tiny Service Can Support

Sure, a DC-3 weighs over 12,500 pounds [double --ed]. One of the problems with that wonderful 'liner, though, is that the working fleet is small, so the costs of STCs get spread over a tiny base. When the government mandates things that cost a lot of money, the little guys get hurt the worst.

Era Aviation, though it's the largest regional airline in Alaska, is still a 'little guy,' and its DC-3s are now out of business -- and not because they can't still earn a living. They're simply regulated out of business, by a rule that was designed to combat a completely different problem, and on a completely different scale. You see, after 65 years of service, DC-3s are suddenly unsafe, and need to have the new, bulletproof, terrorist-resistant cockpit doors. They're too expensive, so the airliners need to be removed from service.

ANN News-Spy Bill Pearce told us, "Something that I find sad and interesting: Era Classic Airlines is retiring their 2 DC-3s. I think these are the last DC-3s to fly under part 121, scheduled air carrier operations. They are both at Stead (4SD) in NV. Why the retirement? Because the FAA is requiring them to be fitted with bulletproof cockpit doors. What’s right? What’s wrong? I don’t know anymore; I only know my opinions. But I think it would make a neat story. For the record, they are N1944H and N1944M."

The first airplane came to Era from its parent company, an oil-drilling company in Houston (TX); the second one was most-recently a Basler machine. The 1942 and 1945 [-Hotel is the newer of the two] machines have been delighting tourists and sightseers for five or six years, flying over Alaska and the gorgeous terrain near Lake Tahoe (CA).

Lynn, at Era Aviation at Reno Stead, where the airplanes are wintering, told us, "It's really a shame. Since [these machines are really] used for private charter, [the rule change is] really a pain." The planes, which seat as many as 28, are used for nostalgic and sightseeing charter work. "They play the classic '40s music; the stewardesses are in the uniforms of the day... it's really neat," she said. Now, though, she thinks, "They're going to be sold."

Tom Deal, in fixed-wing maintenance in Anchorage, the machines' home base, said, "Imagine sitting in these airplanes, sipping champagne from gold-rimmed glasses, listening to big band music, and looking out at that big white rock [Alaska]. It's a wonderful experience." Not any more, Tom, thanks to the showmanship in DC.

FMI: www.era-aviation.com/fs_DC3_Tours.stm