DC-3

The Douglas DC - 3

I happened to be in Ottawa Ontario Canada on business when I came across an aircraft that had to be moved to St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada from the Ottawa airport. The aircraft turned out to be a DC-3. It was 95 feet wide and 65 feet long. Its engines were not air worthy so it had to be moved by road. I got the Job!

Photo by Duncan Smith

Photo by Duncan Smith

With the wings and tail taken off, it was still at 24-1/2 feet wide by 60 feet long. The wings and tail were put on another truck and I carried the fuselage. Now with the easy part done the planning of the route was a nightmare. It only took me an hour to find out that I couldn't go out the main entrance of the airport for it would lead me onto very narrow city roads. It was decided that I go out the backside of the airport onto a small country road.

Photo by Duncan Smith

Photo by Duncan Smith

After two days of planning all the levels of government involved approved the route. In the province of Ontario I had to move it in daylight hours only. At the Ontario/Quebec border we had to wait till midnight to operate in Quebec.

Helicopter photo by Barry Schwerdfeger

Photo by Duncan Smith

At midnight my four escort vehicles arrived as did four Police escort cars. After checking my route and permits we were on our way down the road at 24 foot six inches wide.

Helicopter photo by Barry Schwerdfeger

Helicopter photo by Barry Schwerdgeger

Helicopter photo by Barry Schwerdfeger

Forty-five minutes down the road I came to a bridge that I couldn't fit across. Now came the first of the many headaches. After an hour of blocking the road it was decided that the only way out of this was to take the road that we passed a mile back. Once I go off my permitted route I am then at the mercy of the police. I had no room to turn around so I had to back up my truck for that mile at 24 foot six inches wide.

Once on the other road it was easy going until we came into the major city of Montreal. Here I was told to stop [in the middle of the road] for the provincial police were relieved of their duty and the city police would take over from there. For the next hour I slowly worked my way down the many roads, then again I was told to stop [in the middle of the road again, as I couldn't get over]. They changed police crews again. There I sat for another thirty minutes, with all the now twelve escort/police vehicles blocking all the traffic behind me.

Once moving again we soon came upon a paving crew paving the road. They were told to get out of the way and let us all go by now. As we drove over the freshly paved road I noticed that I was leaving tire tracks in the soft pavement, as were the rest of my party. It had to be all repaved.

A mile down the road we came to an off ramp that I had to take. A policeman drove me up the ramp to measure its width. I couldn't fit for it was only 18 feet wide. The aircraft was still blocking the road for the next thirty minutes as the police figured out how to get out of this mess.

Moving on again we came to another ramp and mentioned that if I couldn't fit we would be in really big trouble, as the sun rose and the traffic was getting busy. I measured it, I could fit, as it was twenty-five feet wide. I had three inches on each side to spare! It took me forty-five minutes to go up the winding ramp knowing if I hit the wall I would have an insurance claim on the aircraft. Also I knew that if I couldn't make it up the winding ramp that it would surely take me hours to back up down the ramp.

After seven hours in Montreal, at almost twenty-five wide, we were all glad when after another hour outside Montreal we arrived at the St.Hyacinthe Air Museum. There it was unloaded all safe and sound.

Ottawa to St.Hyacinthe was 130 miles[210 km] with seven days planning and two moving

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		Last Updated 4 September 2006 17:25