This would be like putting a turbine engine into a P-51. It's no longer the same airplane. If we were to own a DC-3, it would have to have the radial engines! Bill Grants Pass, Oregon
As I recall, there was a turbine engine mod of the P-51.
I love flying the Diesel-3 with radials, I'm just glad I don't have to pay to keep them running.
Sadly, with more and more of them relegated to flying museum status the problems with running their engines infrequently are showing up; lots of maintenance required for very little operating time. sigh
It's a frustrating problem for those who are trying to keep the DC-3s flying.
Gosh, I love the 3... in any configuration! Early DC-3's had the P&W R-1820 (9-cyl single row... short cowling) and many are still flying with that engine. Replacement parts are still available, but supplies are dwindling and costs are rising dramatically. Later versions (mostly C-47's) had the P&W R-1830 14-cyl twin row (longer cowling) and many of these are still flying with even fewer replacement parts available. Turboprop engines have been retrofitted to various DC-3/C-47 versions since the 1950's, with some success stories and a couple of failures. One of my favorite versions of this airplane is N130Q, an R-1820 equipped DC-3 on EDO amphibious floats!
