Douglas DC-5 - Operational History

Operational History

The prototype DC-5, Douglas serial 411, built at El Segundo with Wright Cyclone 1,000 hp R-1820-44 engines, made its first flight on February 20, 1939 with Carl A. Cover at the controls. The sole prototype (originally configured with just eight seats) became the personal aircraft of William E. Boeing which he named "Rover". It was later impressed into the US Navy and converted for military use as an R3D variant in February 1942.

The first customer for the DC-5 was KLM (Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij) of The Netherlands. A US domestic carrier, Pennsylvania Central (later renamed Capital, then incorporated into United Air Lines), ordered six and SCADTA, (Sociedad Colomba-Alemana de Transportes Aéreos) ancestor of today's Avianca in Colombia, another two. The other four aircraft were sold to KLM and used by their colonial subsidiaries, Indonesia in particular. When Douglas went on a war footing, DC-5 production was curtailed so as to build additional Dauntless dive bombers for the Navy and Marines with only KLM receiving the high-winged airliner.

A dozen DC-5s were completed but the SBD contracts prevailed. The first two airliners initially flew the Paramaribo-Curaçao route, and the other two operated from Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia). All four were used for the 1942 evacuation of civilians from Java to Australia, during which "PK-ADA" was damaged and abandoned,along with the destruction of "PK-ADB" at Batavia Kemajoran airport in an air strike by the JAAF on February 9, 1942. Japanese forces captured "PK-ADA" and using parts from the ruined "ADB", subsequently repaired and tested it in Tachikawa and Haneda, later during 1943, operating the DC-5 in camouflage with Japanese Imperial Army Air Force markings as a transport from bases back in the Home Islands.

The two remaining aircraft, "ADC" and "ADD" made their way safely to Australia where the aircraft were interned by the Allied Directorate of Air Transport there and operated by the USAAF as the C-110. The wartime history of "PK-ADC" was brief, however, for it was destroyed in a landing accident shortly after its arrival "down under". "ADD" flew for the balance of the war under the aegis of Australian National Airways, on support missions inside the country with the temporary license "VH-CXC".

In 1939, the US Navy ordered seven aircraft; three of the R3D-1 version (of which the first crashed before delivery), and four R3D-2s. The latter were used by the US Marine Corps because of the 1,015 HP R-1820-44 engines, the large cargo holds and the 22 seats for paratroops.

After World War II, production of the DC-5 was not resumed because of the abundance of surplus DC-3/C-47 aircraft released into civil service. In 1948, the last surviving DC-5 (c/n 426) VH-ARD of Australian National Airways was sold and smuggled to Israel for military use. The aircraft arrived at Haifa in May 1948, and from there went to Sde Dov, where its markings were removed and the name "Yankee Pasha - The Bagel Lancer" was crudely painted on the nose by hand. The aircraft joined 103 transport squadron at Ramat David, but as Israel was in the midst of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, it was occasionally used as a bomber as well. This was achieved by removing the aft loading door and rolling the bombs out of the opening "by a judicious shove from a crewman's foot."

The operational record of the aircraft is in dispute as authoritative sources do not verify its combat service. Nonetheless, when the war ended and the 103rd squadron moved, the DC-5 was left behind. It eventually found its way to the Airline Technical School where it was used extensively as a ground instruction airframe at Haifa Airport. When it was no longer serviceable due to a lack of spares, the airframe was stripped of its engines and instruments and the last DC-5 was reduced to scrap in Israel sometime after 1955.