Winning essays land 10 people an hour-long turn aboard a vintage DC-3

Fred Charles looked around the interior of the DC-3 in wonder and with a smile of familiarity. He hadn’t been in a plane like this since December 1945.

That was the last time Charles, an Army Air Corps pilot in World War II, flew the military version of the plane, called a C-47.

His missions during 1944 and ‘45 — too many to count, he said — took him throughout the Pacific. The flights included destinations in Australia, Japan, the Philippines and one that regularly involved crossing over 10,000-foot mountain range in New Guinea.

What brought Charles, 89, of Seattle, to the Historic Flight Foundation at Paine Field on Tuesday was the chance to ride again in the type of plane that he had piloted throughout the war.

Charles’ son had entered his dad’s story in a contest that invited the public to write essays on why they wanted be able to take a flight in the iconic plane. It also included the chance to spend a few minutes in the cockpit sitting in the co-pilot’s seat.

Charles was one of 10 people whose winning essays allowed them to take one of two flights Tuesday on the vintage DC-3.

Passengers saw glimpses of the San Juan Islands, were treated to a buzz down the runway at Seattle’s Boeing Field and had an aerial view of the University of Washington’s remodeled Husky Stadium during the hour-long flights.

That’s to say nothing of the views from an altitude of about 2,000 feet of Lake Washington, boats and ferries plying Puget Sound, backdropped by the Cascade Range.

The plane used in Tuesday’s flights was manufactured in 1944. After the war, it was rehabilitated into a corporate aircraft for Johnson &Johnson, complete with two black telephones to allow back-of-the-plane passengers to call the cockpit to complain about turbulence.

Charles kept his pilot’s eyes on the operation of the aircraft. “I was surprised we didn’t use the flaps on takeoff,” he said.

The plane was one of the best ever built, he said. “They’re still going; it’s amazing.”

He said his turn in the co-pilot’s seat felt great. “It would be nice to fly again and make a few turns and dips,” he said.

He summed up his experience as, “kind of a big thrill, really.”

Also on board Tuesday afternoon’s flight was Gonzalo Canseco, of Everett. Born and raised in Bolivia, he has lived in the United States for 15 years, earning an engineering degree and now works at Boeing.

For Elaine Dow, 70, of Snohomish, the flight brought back memories of when she, as a young teacher in search of adventure, took DC-3 flights in Ethiopia.

Christopher Thiel, 11, of Marysville, wrote in his essay that he wanted to be on the flight because he hopes to be a pilot when he grows up. “It was so cool!” he said of his experience.

For Ursula Denison, 72, of Camano Island, the flight brought back a flood of memories. Denison and her family left a part of Germany which became East Germany after World War II.

In 1952, fearful of the Communist takeover, her mother, Denison and her four sisters escaped to West Berlin.

Denison’s father, traveling separately, was caught and put in jail, but later was reunited with his family in West Germany.

Ursula Denison, her mother and sisters spent time in a refugee camp before eventually flying to Frankfurt. From her decades-old memories, the plane on that flight looked very much like the type of aircraft she was seated on Tuesday. “I’m amazed to be in this plane 60 years later,” she said.

Denison grew up to marry an American serviceman. She arrived in the United States in August 1966 with a 3-month-old baby. She became a citizen, she said proudly, in 1973.

Both during Tuesday’s flight and while sitting in plane’s cockpit, she said she had to fight to hold in her emotions. She reached toward her necklace, decorated with two gold bands. They were the wedding rings of her parents, Englebert and Carola Schiveter. “They are with me today,” she said.

It was hard to put what Tuesday’s experience meant to her in words, she said. She settled on three. “Amazing. Incredible. Thrilling.”

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.

Vintage aircraft

A Vintage Aircraft Weekend is scheduled Aug. 30 to Sept.1 at the Historic Flight Foundation at Paine Field. For more information, check out vintageaircraftweekend.org.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.