Did you start from the float dock with a DC-3? OR on the Misty's PF20 runway in the DC-3. lol. (One can do it from the second scenario - from the runway using shortfield take off procedures in a DC-3.. but without pontoons you'll be drowning if you try from the float plane dock. (Or am I missing something?.. which is not too hard for me to do!!)
Hi Rich, I only did a water takeoff. It did not occur to me to use the Misty strip, realizing that it would be too short for the C47 as an amphib with landing gear. This is from Notes provided by Aero Heaven:
"You will need quite a long takeoff run. Do not expect to get off quickly! So plenty of sea-room is essential. Landings should be carried out at around 65-70 mph. Any more and you will be skipping across the water for some time.
We have left performance much as the landplane as to simulate the real one would just be cruel! Drag from those floats is immense."
While searching for a copy of the Operation Manual (so far unsucessfully), I did find this notation on the Maam.org website in re the C47 Amphibian:
"The Douglas XC-47C # 42-5671 was a 1943 prototype attempt to create a viable amphibious version of the workhorse C-47 by adding a pair of Edo 78 floats. Its flight performance, especially the takeoff, was less than spectacular, and a trial with rocket assisted takeoff proved unsatisfactory. Historical accounts vary on the number of amphibian Gooney Birds that were actually put into service, although 150 sets of floats were reportedly built for field installation. Most authorities cite five aircraft, some of which were said to have been used in the Pacific and Alaskan theaters for air-sea rescue missions."
The full Maam C47 manual does not state minimum runway length requirements, but it does say VR can be achieved once the aircraft has reached a speed of 85 KIAS. By the time she reached that point at Misty's Place, there is no doubt she would be in the woods. So, the bottom line is that a wheels down take off is not possible from Misty's. I have not tried to land on the strip, but I suspect even short field techniques would not work well.
Sherm
