Beforetheairplanesheadtostorage,however,
visitorscanseethemundergoingconservationat
theHazyCenter’sMaryBakerEngenRestoration
Hangar.
TheDC-3waspresentedtotheSmithsonian
in 1952 bythen-EasternAirLines’presidentand
formerWorldWarI aceEddieRickenbacker.The
aircrafthasbeenondisplayintheNationalMall
buildingsinceitsopeningin1976.
“TheDC-3hasbeenhangingformorethan
40 years,”saysrestorationshopsupervisorLuke
Jones.“Inthattime,it’sreceivedmanylayersof
fast-foodgrease,dust,water,anddirt.We’llstart
bygentlyvacuumingtheairplane,andfollowthat
withwateranda milddetergent.Oncethosesteps
arecomplete,therestorationteamwillevaluate
theaircraft’sconditionandaddressanyneeds
itmayhaveinordertosustainitforanother
50-plusyears.”
TheDouglasDC-3—withitsspeed,safetyrecord,
androomy(by1930sstandards)cabin—would
transformcommercialaviation.Beforeitsadvent
in1936,theU.S.commercialairlineindustryhad
beensubsidizedbythegovernmentthroughair-
mailcontractsandotherfunds.“TheDC-3was
thefirstairlinercapableofmakingmoneywithout
thesubsidy,simplybycarryingpassengers,”says
MuseumcuratorRobertvanderLinden.The aircraft had 21 seats (instead of the standard
10), cantilever wings, and all-metal construction.
So successful was the original design that the basic
specifications were never changed. Of the more
than 13,000 DC-3s built (including the military
version, the C-47), the Museum estimates that
400 are still airworthy.
The Museum’s aircraft flew more than 56,700
hours with Eastern Air Lines, and its last com-
mercial flight was on October 12, 1952, from San
Salvador to Miami.
It will return to the Museum on the National
Mall in 2022, when restoration of the America by
Air gallery is complete.Conservation Corner
THE FLYING LAWN CHAIROn July 2, 1982, Los Angeles truck driver Larry
Walters launched his “aircraft”—a Sears lawn
chair dubbed Inspiration— from his backyard.
He had attached to it more than 40 helium-fi lled
weather balloons. Expecting to rise about 100
feet in the air, Walters quickly found himself at
16,000 feet, where he was spotted by passing
airline pilots.
To lower his altitude, Walters used a pellet
gun to pop some of the balloons (he accidentally
dropped the gun soon after). Realizing he
was descending too quickly, Walters dumped
ballast—water from plastic jugs strapped to the
chair. After drifting onto some power lines and a
dramatic rescue by the LAPD, Walters gave the
lawn chair to a passing neighborhood kid. That
kid was Jerry Fleck who, three decades later,
donated the lawn chair to the National Air and
Space Museum.
The unusual fl ier is just one of many items to
pass through the Museum’s conservation hangar;
it’s now on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy
Center.“A man can’t just sit
around,” Larry
Walters explained
to a reporter
when asked what
made him decide
to take a patio
chair aloft.”THE DC-3 WAS THE FIRST AIRLINER
CAPABLE OF MAKING MONEY WITHOUT
THE [GOVERNMENT] SUBSIDY, SIMPLY BY
CARRYING PASSENGERS,” SAYS MUSEUMCURATOR ROBERT VAN DER LINDEN. OF THE
MORE THAN 13,000 BUILT, APPROXIMATELY
400 ARE STILL AIRWORTHY.
Objects
conservator
Jacqueline
Riddle cleans and
stabilizes parts
of Larry Walters’
lawn chair. The
treatment lasted
from March to
May 2019.18 AIR & SPACE airspacemag.comAT THE MUSEUMTOP: AP PHOTO/SAN PEDRO NEWS PILOT; BOTTOM: NASM