Delta DC 7

Delta DC-7 post engine change engine run.

[@rileysteve]

Didn't burn too much oil on that start. After the jets displaced these old windmills,they used to sit at the gates for hours in between trips. Long enough for plenty of oil to gather. Back in the day, when the ramp was full of them all departing around the same time, the ramp was full of blue smoke. Looked like mosquito control coming through. Of course, the ramps were also black with old oil. Those -3350's burned so much oil, there was usually an oil truck to top off the tanks on each engine when refueling. Sometimes the oil capacity was more critical than the fuel! Oil stops were common. Seems strange not seeing someone with a giant fire bottle standing at the ready during engine starts. I liked the window, 4D. At night the window would fill with fire when staring #3 as you had two stacks in your face. Sometimes a first time flyer sitting nearby would freak out over the flames. "Pearl-clutchers". At take off the flames would trail all the way aft of the wing. As a youngster I thought that was pretty cool. At cruise the flames would go blue as the mixture was leaned out. What was so common then certainly seems antiquated and primitive now.

[@semajniffirg230]

Yup those r-3350's were pigs. The Pratt & Whitney double wasp was a much better engine.

[@robertcoakley5645]

@@semajniffirg230 the 3350 could produce the same power as the 4360 and weigh a thousand pounds less. Both put out a thousand horsepower more than the 2800. So I guess it depends on what you are looking at for which is better.

[@jayreiter268]

Steve you are right about the oil. My father was in inspection. It was his task to drill the orifice in the compression tester. When the engine was in service it would not pass with a #60 orifice. After examination of returned cylinders it was decided to open the orifice. That is why there are two types of compression testers now. I remember sitting further back and waking to a sound a seeing a hail of sparks flying towards the window. PRT failure.

[@sparkyranger4737]

It looks like there has been some skin replacement on the fuselage next to the propeller. Maybe from slinging ice?

[@videosfromelsewhere926]

@@sparkyranger4737 Looks like it, or skin reinforcement?

[@johannmckraken9399]

The sound from large radials goes right into the chest when they throttle up. Truly a beautiful sound! Can almost smell the oil….

[@dragonmeddler2152]

Hopped one of these old Delta gals on a flight in 1966 from Kansas City to Jacksonville, FL. Those were good days to fly. Central Air Lines CV-440 from KC-Little Rock, the Delta DC-7B Little Rock-Atlanta and a Delta DC-8 on to Jax.

[@Reid-yy5nw]

The BEST part: It was FUN no matter how long it took!

[@nikolaospeterson2495]

I was literally a baby when I had taken my first commercial flight, it was on a DC-7B just before the enterage of the DC-8! The Jet Age.

[@marchindy]

Thank you Bob for documenting this.

[@carlosarias9882]

Barely remember it but flew in one in 1970 with my family escaping castro's (no caps used as sign of disrespect) prison island.

[@eugeneoreilly9356]

Great to see those old workhorses alive.

[@robertcoakley5645]

Sadly this one is on static display at the Delta Air Lines museum, not to be run or flown again. But it is nice to be able to see one in person.

[@MikeBrown-ex9nh]

Memories of when flying was still enjoyable.

[@patrickcoakley1328]

Great, thank you for posting!!!

[@espgadvogados5260]

Superb machine.

[@poppiarlin5612]

This actually a DC7 B. The Golden Crown on the the tail is the indicator. Also this had written over the passenger doorway, Radar Equipped. Also, I think the standard DC7 had 3 blades per engine. This one has 4.

[@redgreen43]

DC-6's had three bladed props. DC-7's had four.

[@DavidPruittTV]

What's the N#? I'd like to check my father's log books to see if he had time on that one. He flew 33 years for Delta, starting in 1947.

[@robertcoakley5645]

N4887C

[@normanodeneal1090]

Don' t know what ship number this one is, but, I know it came through BHM. Loved to fuel at night when it was raining. Drive fuel truck under wing, climb ladder up on wing and start opening door flaps on top. Gave you something to hold on to while dragging fuel hose across wing. Gee, How many folks do you know that slid off the wing while fueling on when it rained. Ship number 715 was one of the last that operated and BHM was on the rotation.

[@ronaldmorris8999]

I saw that plane it was parked over by the international Concourse E for a while at Atlanta airport

[@robertcoakley5645]

It is now parked in front of the Delta Flight Museum.

[@ronaldmorris8999]

@@robertcoakley5645 yes, I saw that,it's with his younger brothers,the 737-400 the 757,and the DC 9

[@alfredomarquez9777]

@@ronaldmorris8999 CORRECTION: both the 737-400 and the 757 are NOT "brothers" at all... More like "distant cousins", as Boeing and Douglas alwas were vdistinct companies.

[@oklahomaaviation1123]

Is this at phoenix AZA.

[@robertcoakley5645]

Yes

[@andrewgonick]

Is it still airworthy?

[@robertcoakley5645]

No