Roadie800 Posted August 30, 2023 Share Posted August 30, 2023 I'm in the middle of a Monogram C-47 build. The kit is a very nice historical setup for depicting the C-47 during the D Day Invasion. However, I would like to create this model as a worn out night freighter from the 70s and 80s. My first flying gig was in this aircraft and I still have some photos of a few of the airplanes I flew - the company was a night hauler outfit called Air Indiana which went defunct in the early eighties. I can fairly replicate the paint schemes but cannot find any lettering decals of about 1/4" that would approximate the "AIR INDIANA" fuselage titles and N numbers. Anyone know where I can get such a set of lettering decals? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
peter havriluk Posted August 31, 2023 Share Posted August 31, 2023 See what 'Draw Decal' can do for for you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cubs2jets Posted August 31, 2023 Share Posted August 31, 2023 I envy your flight time in the DC-3. While you would know better, each of those appear to be DC-3's, NOT C-47's as evidenced by the "air stair" style entry doors. N80E is obviously an ex- Federal Aviation Administration (maybe flight check) aircraft and N222TS may have been an American Airlines "Flagship" owing to the right hand entry door. Please keep us appraised of your progress. C2j Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roadie800 Posted August 31, 2023 Author Share Posted August 31, 2023 9 hours ago, peter havriluk said: See what 'Draw Decal' can do for for you. Thanks, I'll check it out Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roadie800 Posted August 31, 2023 Author Share Posted August 31, 2023 3 hours ago, Cubs2jets said: I envy your flight time in the DC-3. While you would know better, each of those appear to be DC-3's, NOT C-47's as evidenced by the "air stair" style entry doors. N80E is obviously an ex- Federal Aviation Administration (maybe flight check) aircraft and N222TS may have been an American Airlines "Flagship" owing to the right hand entry door. Please keep us appraised of your progress. C2j You are correct. Both of the Airliners.net photos are DC-3s, and N222TS likely an original AA airplane. Also, Douglas produced far more C-47s but many of these were converted back to DC-3s with the passenger doors after the war. National Jet, DBA Air Indiana, had between 8 and 10 DC-3/C-47s (most with the cargo doors) as I recall, and like many of the other shady freight operators during that period, operated on a shoestring with routine cut-corner maintenance practices. The FAA generally looked the other way as they had bigger fish to fry and these freight operators flew nighttime under-the-radar and out of the public view. One or two of Air Indiana's DC-3s were passenger configured and the company had a major accident that killed members of the Evansville University basketball team in 1977. I was apprehensive about working there, but I was very young and green with only a few hundred hours on a fresh commercial / instrument / multi ticket and had to take what I could get to build experience. Looking back, it was quite an adventure. I see you're from CLT. I was based at CLT until my retirement as a corporate pilot in 2016. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WymanV Posted August 31, 2023 Share Posted August 31, 2023 You might also want to look at model railroad stuff. Between decals and dry transfers they have a lot available. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JohnEB Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 (edited) The right hand door configuration was used by various airlines, not just AA. If it was ex-American, it has had an engine conversion, as they originally came with Wrights. Judging by the cowl, those are P&Ws. However, by that late date, just about anything could have been done to them. And to expand on an earlier comment...there were only about 600 airline DC-3s (prewar), and 11,000 C-47s, so most of the post-war DC-3s were ex-military. Edited September 3, 2023 by JohnEB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted October 9, 2023 Share Posted October 9, 2023 On 8/30/2023 at 2:08 PM, Roadie800 said: I'm in the middle of a Monogram C-47 build. The kit is a very nice historical setup for depicting the C-47 during the D Day Invasion. However, I would like to create this model as a worn out night freighter from the 70s and 80s. My first flying gig was in this aircraft and I still have some photos of a few of the airplanes I flew - the company was a night hauler outfit called Air Indiana which went defunct in the early eighties. I can fairly replicate the paint schemes but cannot find any lettering decals of about 1/4" that would approximate the "AIR INDIANA" fuselage titles and N numbers. Anyone know where I can get such a set of lettering decals? On 8/30/2023 at 2:08 PM, Roadie800 said: I'm in the middle of a Monogram C-47 build. The kit is a very nice historical setup for depicting the C-47 during the D Day Invasion. However, I would like to create this model as a worn out night freighter from the 70s and 80s. My first flying gig was in this aircraft and I still have some photos of a few of the airplanes I flew - the company was a night hauler outfit called Air Indiana which went defunct in the early eighties. I can fairly replicate the paint schemes but cannot find any lettering decals of about 1/4" that would approximate the "AIR INDIANA" fuselage titles and N numbers. Anyone know where I can get such a set of lettering decals? OK; I gotta ask you a question. What field did this DC 3 fly out of? Sorta reminds me of Freeman Field (corn field and all) gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted October 9, 2023 Share Posted October 9, 2023 On 8/31/2023 at 9:32 AM, Roadie800 said: You are correct. Both of the Airliners.net photos are DC-3s, and N222TS likely an original AA airplane. Also, Douglas produced far more C-47s but many of these were converted back to DC-3s with the passenger doors after the war. National Jet, DBA Air Indiana, had between 8 and 10 DC-3/C-47s (most with the cargo doors) as I recall, and like many of the other shady freight operators during that period, operated on a shoestring with routine cut-corner maintenance practices. The FAA generally looked the other way as they had bigger fish to fry and these freight operators flew nighttime under-the-radar and out of the public view. One or two of Air Indiana's DC-3s were passenger configured and the company had a major accident that killed members of the Evansville University basketball team in 1977. I was apprehensive about working there, but I was very young and green with only a few hundred hours on a fresh commercial / instrument / multi ticket and had to take what I could get to build experience. Looking back, it was quite an adventure. I see you're from CLT. I was based at CLT until my retirement as a corporate pilot in 2016. just a note: The lend lease airframes sent to Russia had the cargo doors on the otherside (or maybe entry doors). I think Finland was similar. gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cat Barf Posted October 10, 2023 Share Posted October 10, 2023 19 hours ago, ChesshireCat said: OK; I gotta ask you a question. What field did this DC 3 fly out of? Sorta reminds me of Freeman Field (corn field and all) gary The photo captions on the host site says they were at Danville-Vemillion Regional. https://www.airliners.net/search?keywords=air+indiana+c-47&sortBy=dateAccepted&sortOrder=desc&perPage=36&display=detail Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted October 10, 2023 Share Posted October 10, 2023 4 hours ago, Cat Barf said: The photo captions on the host site says they were at Danville-Vemillion Regional. https://www.airliners.net/search?keywords=air+indiana+c-47&sortBy=dateAccepted&sortOrder=desc&perPage=36&display=detail must be Danville IL. Danville IN doesn't have an airport gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roadie800 Posted October 10, 2023 Author Share Posted October 10, 2023 On 10/9/2023 at 1:38 AM, ChesshireCat said: OK; I gotta ask you a question. What field did this DC 3 fly out of? Sorta reminds me of Freeman Field (corn field and all) gary The company was based at Indianapolis Intl Airport when I worked there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted October 11, 2023 Share Posted October 11, 2023 5 hours ago, Roadie800 said: The company was based at Indianapolis Intl Airport when I worked there. can't recall ever seeing a DC-3 from that company gary Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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