Douglas DC-7

The Douglas DC-7 was an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. It was the last major piston engine powered transport made by Douglas, coming just a few years before the advent of jet aircraft such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.

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• Crew: 3 or 4
  
• Capacity: 99 to 105 passengers
  
• Length: 112 ft 3 in (37 m)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 127 ft 6 in (42 m)
  
• Height: 31 ft 10 in (10.5 m)
  
• Wing area: 1,637 ft² (152 m²)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 72,763 lb (33,005 kg)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 143,000 lb (65,000 kg)
  
• Powerplant: 4× [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-18EA1 Turbo-Compound radial piston engines, 3,400 hp (2,535 kW) each
  

• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 406 mph (653 km/h)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 355 mph (570 km/h)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 4,605 mi (7A) / 5,635 mi (7C) (7,410 km (7A) / 9,070 km (7C))
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 25,000 ft (7,600 m)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 1,043 ft/min (318 m/min)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 87.4 lb/ft² (427.6 kg/m²)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 0.10 hp/lb (160 W/kg)
  

On America’s 234th birthday, July 4, 2010, former Eastern Air Lines DC-7B N836D took to the air at Opa-locka Airport in Southern Florida on its first post-restoration flight. Captain George Riley, First Officer Eduardo Blanco and Flight Engineer Carlos Gomez pronounced the 40-minute local flight very smooth and “uneventful.” The flight marked the culmination of a six-year restoration project and hopefully the start of a superstar airshow career for this one-of-a-kind aircraft. The story began when Carlos Gomez and Marc Wolff rescued N836D from almost certain scrapping at St. Paul’s Downtown Holman Field (STP) in 2004. Most aviation experts thought they had lost their minds but they have made good on their promise and restored the vintage airliner to her former glory.

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One Man’s Dream

DC-7B N836D (c/n 45345) was delivered to Eastern Air Lines on January 23, 1958, just a few months prior to the advent of the jet age. The reign of Eastern’s fifty-strong DC-7B fleet was short, with the last aircraft being retired in October 1966. Most were sold to California Airmotive, which bought N836D in September 1965. Nomads, Inc., a Detroit based travel club bought the aircraft in 1966 but by 1971 it had been replaced by a Lockheed Electra and was parked at Detroit’s Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) awaiting sale. Joe Kocour, a St. Paul native, founded the Twentieth Century Travel Club and purchased N836D in 1972 with the intent of operating the travel club out of his hometown. For 32 years Joe Kocour kept his dream alive to get the DC-7B back in the air. He would occasionally run the engines, perform maintenance and move the aircraft around St. Paul’s Downtown Holman Field (STP) to keep it away from the flood prone Mississippi River. In November 2003 he passed his dream on to Carlos Gomez and Marc Wolff.

The Deal is Made and Work Begins

Carlos Gomez became aware of Joe’s DC-7B in 2003 and later that year, in concert with Marc and Marlene Wolff, formed Legendary Airliners with the express intent of purchasing and restoring the aircraft. Carlos is co-owner of Florida Air Transport (FAT) and had plenty of experience operating vintage Douglas propliners from his home base at Opa-locka Airport (OPF) in southern Florida. What made N836D so attractive to him was that it was the sole surviving DC-7 with an intact passenger interior. Carlos contacted Joe and a date was set in November 2003 for Carlos to inspect the aircraft. After spending a few hours on a very cold airport ramp, Carlos made Joe an offer and later that day they shook hands on a deal.

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Carlos now had his airplane but starting work on the old airliner would have to wait for the end of the cold Minnesota winter. On May 22, 2004 Carlos, his father Martin and Marc’s father-in-law Larry Breuner, departed Miami for St Paul. The first order of business was to carefully inspect the aircraft and prepare a plan of action. The inspection confirmed what Carlos had determined on his initial inspection back in November: The aircraft was essentially sound but needed quite a bit of work before the flight to Florida could be undertaken.
After removing years of accumulated bird nests, the engines were successfully run at low power settings the week of June 13th. Over the next few weeks the engines were run at progressively higher power settings with no unexpected problems occurring. All fuel lines, oil lines, and fuel injection pumps were replaced. Control cables were lubricated and those that couldn’t be salvaged were replaced. The previous reports of massive main spar corrosion proved unfounded but the group did find that the outer wing panels had some corrosion. This was not unexpected and wasn’t severe enough to delay the ferry flight to Opa-locka where they would be replaced. The rudder was replaced with one that Joe Kocour donated and by the third week of June, the project was definitely coming together.
Up to this point things were looking very good for an early July departure to Florida, but this was not to be. During high-speed taxi testing on July 8th, the #4 engine experienced a master rod bearing failure, which required an engine replacement. The crew decided to pack up and head back to Florida to collect a replacement engine and take a much needed break. On Thursday, July 22nd, they were again heading north with a replacement engine and four props from DC-7BF, N381AA. An FAA airworthiness directive (AD) had been issued in 1982 for the inspection of DC-7 props for corrosion, and this obviously had never been completed on N836D. With the replacement engine and four AD compliant props the group arrived in St. Paul on Saturday July 24th. By sunset the new engine had been hung and was ready for testing.

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By Sunday July 25th, testing of the #4 engine was complete and the group began the task of addressing a number of minor problems that needed correction prior to the ferry flight. The plan was to depart St. Paul for Atlanta the following Saturday morning. On Friday July 30th during engine testing, the #1 engine experienced a bearing failure, which necessitated another engine change. Another trip was made to Miami to collect a replacement engine and the
#1 engine was changed out on August 3rd and successfully tested the next day. Thankfully, this was the last engine change!