red750 Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 A motor home created from a Douglas R4D Plane to RV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Koreelah Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 Nice, but they could have added decent wheel spats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 It's a C54/DC-4. Flew them for 5 years. Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onetrack Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 I must say I'm surprised he mounted it on a pretty basic International truck. I would've thought an eccentric like he is, would have it powered by a big radial up front - and "look out pedestrians!", emblazoned on it, in the finest American "freedom" manner! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 "Someone" did a DC-3 cockpit built onto a 30 cwt or something in Brisbane. Probably an ex PNG Sunbird Pilot. I saw it a few times at Pilot gatherings in the 90's .Nicely done and fairly high up. Vision would be a bit restricted. Certainly drew a bit of attention wherever it went. Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old man emu Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 I'm intrigued as to how he set up the steering linkages from the steering wheel to the steering box. Brakes and throttle would not be a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willedoo Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 2 hours ago, facthunter said: "Someone" did a DC-3 cockpit built onto a 30 cwt or something in Brisbane. Probably an ex PNG Sunbird Pilot. I saw it a few times at Pilot gatherings in the 90's .Nicely done and fairly high up. Vision would be a bit restricted. Certainly drew a bit of attention wherever it went. Nev If it's the same one, it was still getting around airshows in recent years. I remember seeing it at the David Hack Classic. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onetrack Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 (edited) The story of the Australian "original" aircraft motorhome is down the page a bit on the link below. It wasn't mounted on a 30cwt, it was mounted on a KB-5 International 5 tonner. Not exactly a speed machine, the old KB-5 was only good for a cruise speed of about 70kmh. Trucks were limited to 40mph (65kmh) in the 40's and 50's, and the limits were enforced. If you ran the old IH Silver Diamond 233 cu. in. motors "pedal to the metal", they'd burn valves quite rapidly. The engine only produced 50 BHP, and peaked out at 3400 RPM. https://rvdaily.com.au/the-fabulous-flamingo-dc-3-motorhome-conversion/ Edited February 3, 2023 by onetrack 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry_Atrick Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 Is it just me, or does anyone else think they're uggggggggleeeee!!! Waste of a plane, and waste of a decent RV.. Yeah, I know, the plane was probably going to be scrapped... But, they just don't easy with me.. CASA may need an annual or something. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 The bits of DC-3 used there wouldn't weigh much. The whole plane is 7500Kgs empty. Nev 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 There were over 13,000 DC3's built in total. There's not likely to be a severe shortage of them into the future. It's a good airframe. Called Gooney Bird, Biscuit Bomber Dakota and probably a few other things. Responsible for a lot of the CARGO Cult phenomena in PNG.. Nev 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
octave Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 (edited) I have been lucky enough to have had a couple of flights on a DC3. The first one was when I was about 15 an in Air Training Corp. We got to visit Edinburgh air base where we got to go for a couple circuits in the ARDU (Air Research and Development unit) who at the time had 1 DC3. The second time was a coupler of years later when I was for a short time a member of the Army Reserve band. We flew to Kangaroo Island and back for a gig. I remember this DC3 had a clear acrylic? dome for Astro navigation It was great to stick your head up onto the dome during flight. Later on when I was a musician in the RAAF we played out I think the retirement of one owned by the RAAF. This was in Darwin and it involved marching band. We played as we marched down the taxiway all the way out to the runway with the aircraft following behind, After it took off it did a rather spectacular low pass over our heads. Edited February 4, 2023 by octave 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 Not unusual. The navigation often relied on stars and the moon etc Dc-4's had the same thing but I doubt pressurised planes had it. Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 IMHO the DC3 is one of the great planes of all time and another is the B 747. Nev 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onetrack Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 The weight saving design of the aircraft fuselage would be particularly important for motor home use. Weight is a killer in all these designs, particularly when the occupants want to carry every comfort of home with them! I once bought a farm (late 1970's) and on the scrap pile at the farm was the remnants of someones homebuilt caravan. It was built on a 1935 Ford truck chassis (using the front axle re-positioned to the centre of the chassis - and the construction was 3 x 2 inch jarrah (wood) stud frame, clad in overlapping (clinker) weatherboard timber cladding - and it contained a No. 2 Metters wood stove!! I hate to think what it weighed, when it was completed! He must have used the farm truck to haul it around! A Mr A. Knowles, a retired timber merchant, built a semi-trailer motorhome in the early 1950's, based on a KS-5 International. Unusually for the time, the KS-5 also sported a dual cab or crew cab. I'm not sure if he built the rig new, or converted a WW2 military-worker-carrying semi-trailer bus, of which quite a few were built, to transport workers to the war factories during WW2. https://collections.slq.qld.gov.au/viewer/IE1220498 After he moved the KS-5 on, Mr Knowles built a very smart motorhome based on a Bedford bus chassis (1955). This would have cost him a very substantial sum at the time, and he was obviously extremely wealthy. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/79251976 In the following photos of a number of very early caravans, is a photo of a semi-trailer-style homebuilt caravan, made from an aircraft fuselage. The nose section appears to be have been mounted on a "Blitz" (Canadian Military Pattern) truck. This is truly a remarkable piece of work and it would be interesting to find out more detail on it. https://www.flickr.com/groups/qanzac100/pool 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 The DC 3 would be exceptionally light as there's no wing or Nosewheel reinforcement there. You could strip it out to the Bare shell.. Nev 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old man emu Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 At the end of WWII the Yanks held massive Clearing Sales of the equipment they had brought to the South-west Pacific and didn't want to take home. The stuff included C-47s which, as we all know was, the DC-3 built to a military spec. A lot came to Australia. Butler Air Transport Co. purchased three from a stockpile in the Philippines. Once back home the Company set about returning them the the civilian DC-3 configuration. That mainly involved replacing the back-to-the-wall bench seats with side-by-side seats. Another big job wa to replace the rear cargo door with the smaller DC-3 passenger door. A certain well-known pace bowler whose career batting average was 7.00, despite a fighting 61 in a last wicket stand of 114, is involved with a tourism company that is nearly finished restoring a DC-3/C-47 for aerial tourism. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onetrack Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 (edited) The number of caravans and motorhomes built from wrecked aircraft fuselages is quite amazing. Here's just a small selection. The abilities of some of these blokes was nothing short of superb. I love the 1948 aluminium caravan built by a bloke who reportedly built aircraft during WW2 (Aug 31, 2011 post) It wouldn't be out of place, if new, today. https://vintagecaravans.proboards.com/thread/4213/caravans-built-out-aircraft-components Edited February 4, 2023 by onetrack 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacesailor Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 Reg Annset DC aircraft was last spotted at a ' transport company ' farm on the Great western hyway nsw . I was told it was a gift , for his moving an air-museum , when they needed more funds than they had . spacesailor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old man emu Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 I am of the opinion that reg Ansett never made a free-of-strings gift. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacesailor Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 Your right. It was the X museum !. Ran low on funds for moving all the exhibits into hiding. So gave the D C bird to to transport boss. It was getting rarther dirty , last time I saw it & I really wanted to get a bucket & sponge to give it a once over . LoL spacesailor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red750 Posted February 4, 2023 Author Share Posted February 4, 2023 Like one of Ansett's old Bell helicopters. For a number of years it was at a kids play park where the Forest Hill police station now stands. When Wobbies World went out of business, it was relocated to a farm on the Dandenong-Frankston Rd. As my copyright bar states, I took this photo in 2012. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onetrack Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 (edited) And to keep up the ideas flow - here's a U.S. couple who built a caravan out of a helicopter fuselage. Naturally, they're both Coast Guard helicopter pilots! https://taskandpurpose.com/news/coast-guard-helicopter-rv-camper/ Edited February 4, 2023 by onetrack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onetrack Posted February 4, 2023 Share Posted February 4, 2023 I also found out that Arthur Knowles built his KB-5 semi-trailer motorhome from the wreck of a "motor bus". The number of windows indicated to me, that it had previously been a wartime military workers bus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted February 5, 2023 Share Posted February 5, 2023 Helicopters are weird so why not keep up the Weirdocity? Wasted otherwise. Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now