Two Dee Cees (1974) Photo

Photographer’s Note

Another photo from my distant and adventurous past.

This photo was taken at the airport at Abeche in eastern Chad. We had flown in the DC3 (right) from the capital N'djamena. The second part of our journey, to El Geneina in the Darfur region of Sudan, was to be in the DC4 on the left. We made the decision to fly from Chad to Sudan because we had been advised that due to possible rebel activity it was not safe to travel by road. I remember waiting for a week in N'djamena for fuel supplies to arrive before we could make the flight.

The Douglas DC3 was first flown in 1935 and is regarded as one of the most important transport aircraft ever built.

The Douglas DC4 was first flown in 1938. They served during WWII and during the Berlin Airlift. Only 79 were ever built.

A scan from a kodachrome slide.

serp2000, fanni, holmertz, pablominto, danos, shevchenko, bj40, TravelerNL, pulezan trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

serp2000 (9403) 2009-10-06 20:12

Privet, Marlene,
Excellent archive shot and interesting note. I remember Chad as Hot Point in 1980th. TFS!
Serghei

ribeiroantonio (21891) 2009-10-06 22:43

What were you doing in Chad in the seventies?
At that time I was living in Angola and also had used DC3 to fly between Luanda (the capital city) to the interior cities of Silva Porto (today Kuito) and Nova Lisboa (today Huambo).
Last time I flew in a DC3 was in 1979 on a charter flight from Luanda to Soyo. It took three attempts to take off!!!
It is a nice shot with good scanning job.
Antonio

burraburra (843) 2009-10-07 0:45

Hi Marlene,
Interesting photograph. Good selection of pov young lady :) 1974 I had just come to the big smoke (Sydney) and remain still today. Your note is great read. You must have had some memorable adventures. My daughter is about to choof off to Tanzania & Ethiopia before moving on to the UK for a 12 month working holiday.
Regards,
Graham.

fanni (8737) 2009-10-07 0:46

Hello Marlene,
this is quire a rare photo, and now it belongs to History :) I wonder if anyone else too a photo just like you? How many people really bother to take such photos to keep ni their family albums?
Composition-wise, it is a very good shot. I bet the PP work after scanning was hard!
Interesting Note, too!
Warm regards,
Elena

ifege (1743) 2009-10-07 2:12

I love it Marlene,
I travelled in DC3s in the early 1970s in Papua New Guinea - an amazing feel as the tail lifted up. The photo is faded but clear. Ah! the memories. It is good to see photos from other times on TE. But what took you to Chad in the 70s?
cheers
Ian

holmertz (9594) 2009-10-08 2:34

Hello Marlene,
The picture has lost some colours in 35 years no doubt, but who cares? This is a historical document, where the story behind it is just as interesting as the picture itself. I think you made a very wise decision to fly. Rebel activity has been a sure possibility in this part of the world since the early 60's and may probably never end.
Kind regards,
Gert

pablominto (40552) 2009-10-08 2:45

Hello Marlene,

Wow! Thirtyfive years ago, impressive!
Seeing the thumbnail I wonder where they still use those aircrafts hehehe...
A bit pale but who cares? This is a fine docuentary, telling the story well!

Greetings,
Pablo -

danos (32302) 2009-10-08 2:47

Hi Marlene,
great your travelogue to the past with the Douglas DC3,on the ground.Very adventurous your travel in these countries of Africa especially to Sudan.I think that in nowadays there are a lot of difficulties to visit someone these counties too.

Regards,Danos

alvaraalto (5231) 2009-10-08 13:18

Hi Marlene,

Interesting picture with a scene from the history of aviation. In Holland there is the “Dutch Dakota Association” which is still flying with two these aircrafts.

Groet Rob

shevchenko (9890) 2009-10-08 21:06

Hi Marlene,
Since few decades ago is less of flight, interesting composition to show the airbuses and the landing site, thanks for sharing an old photo and your dairy.
Ally

bj40 (1221) 2009-10-09 5:00

Hi Marline,I envy your flight in a DC3, something i have wanted to do.I think some are still flying in Sth America,too bad we can not see the airline logo,you have however obtained good detail and colour in the scan.Walking across the tarmac to board the aircraft a not so common sight today.Thanks Tom.

TravelerNL (2951) 2009-10-09 12:31

Hi Marlene,
Very good scanning quality from a wel preserved original.
Always interesting to see this kind of old photo's and think on how much has changed in aviation since then, from the elites flying to the masses.
Excellent photo!
Thanks for sharing,
Harko

ManuMay (10726) 2009-10-13 22:42

Hi Marlene!

I like very much this capture, having the special mood of 70´s even scanned is really good. It lead us to anotehr times and its crazy machines...Good daily life theme and good composition...

Thanks for the memories!!
Have a nice day...

Manuel

pulezan (767) 2009-10-21 14:37

Thanks to PP the quality of the picture is realy good. The POV is good also but what I like most is your story. This is history, but I wouldn't be surprised if the same scene with the same planes would be possible to see again in these days.

Regards,
pulezan