Douglas C-47 (DC-3) Control Line Model
Dakota / Skytrain - Walter Musciano Plans

This twin-engine, control line Douglas C-47 / DC-3 project is in its beginning phase. Plans, drawn by Walter Musciano, were blown up from those which appeared in the December 1954 issue of Air Trails magazine in an article titled, "Build Your Own Douglas C-47." Traditional balsa, spruce, and plywood was used for construction, and the finish is brushed on Sig butyrate dope. After all trim was completed, a couple thin coats of Sig clear dope were sprayed on.

Breaking News!!!  - My electric-powered, control line DC-3 model completed its maiden flight on August 2, 2023. It flew beautifully! The lines kept nice and tight even with slight wind gusts. I was unsure whether the motors and propellers would provide sufficient thrust, but 4-cell LiPo battery, it will climb nearly straight up. In fact, though, the maiden flight only used a 3-cell LiPo and it flew fine. The propellers are counter-rotating jobs meant for a drone. They are the only 3-bladed props I could find that were small enough in diameter with wide blades and high pitch. Allegheny Airlines livery was chosen because of a photo I have of one sitting on the tarmac at Erie International Airport sometime in the 1970s. A video will be posted soon.

One of the bigger challenges with this model is bending the music wire for the landing gear. Two identical pieces are needed that match each other very closely. There are six, 90° bends in 1/8" music wire that require the lengths of each section to match or else the two ends that go into the wheel hubs will not meet properly. After devising a repeatable method for marking and bending the music wire, I made a short video demonstrating the process. See "How to Bend Music Wire Landing Gear."

See my video titled, "Question: Can You Run Two Brushless motors from a Single ESC?"

Posted August 16, 2023
(updated from original post on 2/10/2018)