Flagship Detroit: The oldest flying Douglas DC-3 takes flight in Middle Tennessee

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — 1937, the year an aviation icon was born – the Flagship Detroit.

Meet Blake Butler, a volunteer pilot for the Douglas DC-3 aircraft based in Shelbyville, Tennessee.

“This is the airplane that brought commercial aviation to where we are today,” Butler said.

It was indeed the plane that changed the way the world flew. “Prior to the DC-3, the only way an airline could survive is with government subsidies through air mail contracts,” Butler said.

Pilots will tell you flying a DC-3 is the ultimate dream.

“She’s a gentle, lumbering bird, that you have to pay attention to,” Butler said. “There’s no automation, everything is manual, everything is big, everything is heavy.”

Jim Ikard, a retired American airlines pilot, and a captain for the Flagship Detroit, says life aboard a 1930s airliner was quite different from what it is today.

“There were no autopilots, there was no weather radar, there was no GPS,” Ikard said. “If the captain got tired, he’d have the co-pilot take fly awhile.”

DC-3s set the gold standard for passenger service.

“You’ll find that you have lots of leg room, however, the seats are narrow,” Butler said. “The seats are narrow because the average passenger in 1937 was 135lbs.”

However, the “average passenger” couldn’t afford to fly. “The ticket would probably be $6,000 on today’s scale,” Butler said.

Despite the hefty price tag, it was a no-brainer way of transportation for celebrities and athletes such as Babe Ruth and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Butler describes flying the Flagship Detroit as a labor of love. And it’s something he hopes to continue doing for years to come.

“I would really like to be the first man to fly a DC-3 that’s 100 years old,” he said. “So, we’ll see how that works out.”

To learn more about the Flagship Detroit Foundation or how you can ride on the 1937 airliner, click here.