ON THE COVER:
If you like DC-3s (and who doesn’t?) then it doesn’t get much better than this 1936 Kodachrome photograph of American Airlines DST Flagship Illinois warming up on a snow-covered field. Buying and building the DC-3 was both a risk for American and Douglas but as confidence in the design increased during development, American doubled its initial order to eight DSTs and a dozen DC-3s. The prototype DST flew on 17 December 1935, which was the 32nd anniversary of the Wright Brothers flight. This is being written on 19 December 2022, so we have seen a stunning 87 years of DC-3/C-47 operations. Flagship Illinois was registered NC16002 and it was the aircraft being flown by Airborne Transport when it disappeared in 1948 over the area that would become known as the Bermuda Triangle. (Alpha Archive)

FEATURES:

TRIANGLE’S FORGOTTEN VICTIM
In a flight plagued with problems, a DC-3 being operated by a “non-sked” airline simply disappeared in an area that would soon become known as the Bermuda Triangle / by Howard Carter

COLORS OF WAR
In this issue, we have something for everyone when it comes to interesting paint schemes worn by military aircraft / by Michael O’Leary

“MURDEROUS MANNY”
The life and times of hard-charging US Marine Corps Corsair ace Harold “Manny” Segal / by Steve Blake

A MARINE COMES HOME
As one-half of A and T Recovery, the author explains what it took to recover a very rare USMC Douglas SBD-1 and the importance of restoring this Dauntless / by Taras Lyssenko

JUNKERS IN THE SKY
The Junkers F-13 was the world’s first production all-metal airliner. Today, a modernized replica is being produced to honor an extremely important period in aviation / by Ugo Vecenzi

DEPARTMENTS:

WARBIRD & CLASSIC REPORT
All the latest news on vintage and veteran aircraft / by Doug Fisher

LOG ENTRIES
How Cal Rodgers and Vin Fiz flew across the country / by Mark Bingham

FRIDAY NIGHT OLDIES
More great Kodachromes on ex-military aircraft / by Doug Fisher

FROM THE COCKPIT
Veteran pilot and restorer Matt Jackson joins Air Classics to begin a new feature that will cover his experiences while also offering sometimes controversial opinions on air racing and Warbird operations / by Matt Jackson

DOWN MEMORY’S RUNWAY
Aircraft from aviation’s glorious past / by Norm Taylor

AIRLINES
News and views from the readers of Air Classics