Finland’s only airworthy DC-3 completes test flight after overhaul

Finland’s only airworthy Douglas DC-3 completed a test flight in Vaasa on Thursday after an extensive overhaul, Yle reports.

The 83-year-old aircraft, known as the “Old Lady”, took off from Vaasa Airport after a long maintenance break. Its flight season will be short, but the aircraft is scheduled to appear at member flights and aviation events later this summer.

The DC-3 may be seen in August over Kotka, Vantaa and Tallinn. Only members of the DC Association can take part in its member flights.

2,100 hours of maintenance work

The aircraft is owned by Airveteran Oy and maintained by volunteers from the Helsinki-based DC Association. It traditionally spends the winter in Vaasa for maintenance.

This year, the volunteers carried out the annual inspection, replaced an engine and completed an intermediate structural inspection. The work took a total of 2,100 hours, according to Tom Karlsson, the association’s head of maintenance.

The aircraft’s spare engine was sent to the United States for an overhaul in August last year and returned nine months later. The overhaul is expected to cost about 130,000 euros, funded largely through membership fees.

The mechanics also had to replace the aircraft’s lead-acid batteries after finding that they were no longer in good condition. Because suitable batteries are not available in Finland, they were ordered from the United States.

About 15 active volunteer mechanics keep the aircraft in flying condition.

“We do a great deal of work to get the aircraft flying again and again. It is a museum aircraft, but it is at its most beautiful when it is flying,” Karlsson said.

A history reaching back to 1942

The aircraft was built in 1942 and served with the United States armed forces during the Second World War. It remained in Germany after the war ended and was purchased by the Finnish state in 1948.

Over the decades, it served with Finnair and the Finnish Air Force, among others.

Pilot Miikka Rautakoura, who flew the aircraft on Thursday, said the aim was to keep its history alive rather than leave it standing in a hangar. He has worked as a DC-3 pilot for about 10 years alongside his job as a Finnair pilot.

Rautakoura described the DC-3’s construction as excellent and said it feels different from modern aircraft. While today’s aircraft use computer-controlled “fly-by-wire” systems, the DC-3 uses traditional cables to control its flight systems.

This year marks 90 years since the first commercial DC-3 flight. The aircraft is still occasionally used around the world as a cargo plane, Rautakoura said.