Frequently Asked Questions

I have loved airplanes ever since my childhood. My father worked for the German airline Lufthansa, then later became a travel agent. I grew up a spoiled young jetsetter with a joy for taking pictures of the neat metal birds and their airport habitats.

As an adult, I embraced the flight simulator community. As I gained experience in creating add-on liveries for the simulator, the increasing exposure to the histories of individual aircraft has fueled a desire to preserve their legacy.

My goal is to faithfully depict any variant of the Douglas DC-3 family of aircraft PLUS present their accompanying history so we can all appreciate the contributions that these amazing machines and their custodians have made to our modern lives.

Per Wikipedia... "An aircraft livery is a set of comprehensive insignia comprising color, graphic, and typographical identifiers which operators (airlines, governments, air forces and occasionally private and corporate owners) apply to their aircraft."

Most folks call them paint jobs or skins.

First, an exhaustive quest is made to acquire useful original reference images of the target aircraft ...text descriptions help too. Speculation of appearance is kept to a minimum ...if the target lacks good references, then another subject is chosen.

Next, using the 3D creation software called Blender, a 1-to-1 scale model of the aircraft is created such that its individual parts can be selectively presented, offering the customization of external and internal features to match the real aircraft. An Excel spreadsheet is used to record a "recipe" of the parts used for each aircraft.

Then, using the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), many image files derived from modular templates are generated for later reference by Blender. Again, a spreadsheet is used to store these recipes. Custom scripts for Blender and GIMP reference the recipes to automate the activation of the 3D objects and image textures.

Once the model, light sources and camera positions are set, Blender's rendering engine applies the livery textures upon the 3D model and produces an image of the subject aircraft from any desired angle.

A concise history of the subject is drafted to serve as the caption to accompany the subject.

Finally, a suitable background, one or more renderings, and the caption are brought together using GIMP to create the finished design.

The resulting high-resolution image file is forwarded to the printer for application upon the desired display material.

The DC-3 is one of the most important aircraft in aviation history. From its first flight in 1935, this revolutionary twin-engined airliner flew further and faster than others before it.

It was one of the first airliners that could profitably carry only passengers without relying on mail subsidies, and thus is credited with establishing the modern commercial airline industry.

World War II General Dwight D. Eisenhower considered the military variant of the DC-3 (most prolifically known as the C-47 Skytrain) to be one of the five most important vehicles crucial to the Allied victory.

Fairly unique among pre-war aircraft, the DC-3/C-47 continues to fly in active commercial and military service ...although the number is dwindling quickly with each passing year.

Manufacturer's Serial Number.

Also known as a Construction Number (cn or c/n), these are unique identifiers allocated by an aircraft's manufacturer to individual airframes.

Think of an MSN as the equivalent to an automobile's VIN (Vehicle Identification Number).

Initially, no.

Later, maybe.

Requests are always encouraged so that I can learn what my clients desire.