Deagostini Douglas DC3 User guide

Brand: Deagostini

Model: Douglas DC3

Type: User guide

Deagostini Douglas DC3, a meticulously detailed model aircraft kit, invites you on a journey of aviation history. With its accurate design and intricate parts, this model promises an immersive building experience. Assemble the iconic aircraft piece by piece, exploring its realistic features such as the passenger cabin, cockpit, and engines. As you progress, learn about the engineering marvels that made the DC3 a legendary aircraft. Display your finished masterpiece with pride, a testament to your modeling skills and a tribute to the golden age of aviation.

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Douglas DC -3

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Douglas DC -3

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Douglas DC -3

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Pack

Paints and

modelling tools

A comprehensive selection of modelling tools

and paints (in all the colours you will need to

complete your Douglas DC-3) is available from

the Model Space website.

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Produced under license. PAN AM logos are trademarks of

Pan American World Airways, Inc.

Produced under license. Boeing, Douglas, Boeing Airplane Company, DC-3,

247, Douglas World Cruiser, and the distinctive Boeing logos, product markings

and trade dress are trademarks of The Boeing Company.

Published in the UK by De Agostini UK Ltd,

Battersea Studios 2, 82 Silverthorne Road,

London SW8 3HE

Published in the USA by De Agostini Publishing USA, Inc.,

915 Broadway, Suite 609,

New York, NY 10010.

Packaged by Continuo Creative, 39-41 North Road,

London N7 9DP

p55-62, images from the Giorgio Apostolo Collection

Items may vary from those shown.

Not suitable for children under the age of 14.

This product is not a toy and is not designed or intended for use in play.

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Boeing Corporate Identity Program Revision: July 26, 2004

Ideally, the OLP mark should appear in ratio of 1:2

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The Dawn of a New Age

The DST and the birth of the DC-3

After the technical and commercial

success of the DC-2, Douglas™

Aircraft concentrated on developing

a new project. This is how the DST,

and its ‘twin’ the DC-3™, came

into being.

ASSEMBLY GUIDE

Passenger Cabin (Part 1)

Assembly of the left side of the

passenger cabin, complete with

windows and external cladding.

Page

™

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The dawn of a new era

The Douglas DST,

commissioned from

Douglas by American

Airlines, was a signiﬁcant

improvement on the

DC-2 in terms of both

comfort and performance.

American Airlines

christened its DSTs

‘Flagship Skysleepers’.

The Dawn of a New Age

The DST and the birth of the DC-3

The birth of the DC-3 was, to a large

extent, the result of the technical and

commercial success of the DC-2.

The new aircraft was commissioned

from the Douglas Aircraft Co. by C. R.

Smith and William Littlewood of American

Airlines; originally, it was to be a sleeper

aircraft, based on the DC-2 model, which

was intended to replace the Curtiss

T-32 ‘Condor’, then used by the airline.

American Airlines’ specifications included,

among other things, the solution to some

of the problems which had emerged

during the first operational flights of the

DC-2. In particular, these related to curing

the alleged weakness of the undercarriage

and making the control surfaces easier to

handle. But it was the rearrangement of

the passenger cabin to make room for

14 sleepers (16 in the prototype) which

required the most radical changes.

December 1935 saw the first flight of the

prototype Douglas DST (Douglas Sleeper

Transport), which was delivered to

Build Douglas DC

American Airlines in 1936 and to United

Airlines in 1937.

DST and DC-3: Siamese twins

The DST made its first commercial flight

on 25 June 1936 on the Chicago-Newark

route, while on 18 September it made its

first flight on the New York-Los Angeles

route, which it carried out in 17½ hours

(with three stops), compared to the 23½

hours and nine stops of the ‘Condor’. The

decision of American Airlines to name its

15 DST aircraft ‘Flagship Skysleepers’,

together with an advertising campaign

entirely centred on flying comfort and the

quality of service, clearly showed that the

A reduced version of American Airlines’

ﬂight timetable, updated in April 1935.

At the start of the 1930s, AA covered a

network of 72 destinations, concentrated

mainly in the Midwest, Northeast and

Southwest of the United States. Under the

energetic management of C. R. Smith and

thanks to the introduction of the DC-3, the

company was the ﬁrst to make a proﬁt on

passenger transport alone at a time when the

competition still relied on government mail

transport contracts for their survival.

Sleeper berths on board an American Airlines’ DST. The lower berth was formed by linking two seats facing

each other; the upper one, when not used, was folded up against the cabin wall. The bottom berths were lit by

two windows and the upper ones by a shallower window (here covered by a curtain), designed, according to

the company, to reduce the sense of claustrophobia.

56 Build Douglas DC

The dawn of a new era

company had decided to make the DST

the flagship of its fleet. But from the very

start, the development of the DST was only

one part of the contract between the airline

company and Douglas. The other part

consisted of developing the structure of

the new aircraft into a ‘traditional’ transport

plane with a capacity of 21 passengers,

which would be designated the DC-3.

The plan of a DC-3 (top)

compared with that of a DST.

Note that in the DST there

are two toilets (instead of

one) and the kitchen is in the

front part of the fuselage.

By changing these, and

making other modiﬁcations

to the distribution of interior

space, the DC-3 increased

the number of passengers it

could carry to 21, as well

as signiﬁcantly increasing

the space available for mail

and baggage.

In spite of Douglas’s intention of

minimising the differences between the

two models, the DST/DC-3 only shared 10

per cent of the DC-2’s components. The

fuselage was longer and wider, the plane

was heavier, and the wingspan and wing

area were larger. The shape of the wings

was also altered, with the adoption of the

NACA 2215 airfoil instead of the NACA

2206, and the whole aircraft underwent

substantial modifications, including the tail

assembly, which was significantly altered

to increase its efficiency. In effect, the

aircraft was completely redesigned. In the

DST version, in addition to the rectangular

windows (seven on the left side and eight

on the right, each 35 x 68cm), there were

now extra windows above them (three on

the left and four on the right, each 13

x 68cm), which provided light for the

upper sleeping berths. At first sight,

these provide the most noticeable feature

that distinguish the DST from the other

versions of the aircraft.

American Airlines’ contribution was

fundamental to the development of

the DST/DC-3. On the one hand, the

Douglas company did not really believe

in the commercial future of sleeper

aircraft (in spite of the fact that, after

the order placed by American Airlines,

further orders for the DST were placed

by Eastern Airlines, United Airlines and

TWA); on the other hand, it wanted to

maximise the financial returns on a

project which had proved much more

complex than expected, and which had

made serious demands on the production

capacity of its plant at Clover Field, Santa

Monica, at a time when it was also trying

to satisfy orders for the DC-2.

As a result, it was no coincidence that

until it went out of production, the airlines

themselves saw the DST as completely

interchangeable with the DC-3, and some

A view of the left side

of a DC-3A. Compared

to the DC-2, the most

obvious differences are

the tail assembly and

the connecting ‘ﬁllet’

between that and the

fuselage. Other important

modiﬁcations involved the

landing gear, which was

strengthened and operated

by a new type of hydraulic

pump. On the side can

be seen one of the many

versions of the Douglas

logo, with the globe and

three aircraft in ﬂight.

58 Build Douglas DC

The dawn of a new era

cooled engines with nine radial cylinders,

each engine developing 1,000bhp.

Subsequently, it was fitted with two P & W

SB3G engines of the same power, and in

the DST-A version, with two Cyclone G 102

engines. As in the DC-1 and DC-2 (and,

as would be the case with the DC-3 too),

the engines were mounted in a nacelle

that also incorporated the recess for the

retractable undercarriage. Furthermore, the

engines could be removed

en bloc

from the

aircraft, together with the main connections

and accessories, thus making maintenance

work much quicker. This particular feature

was used again in the DC-3, which in its

first configuration was powered by the

same Cyclone G2 engines as the DST; in

the course of time these were replaced by

the versions G102, G103, G102A, G2E,

G1OA and G202A, and in the case of

the DC-3A, by the various versions of the

P & W R-1830 ‘Twin Wasp’.

The pilot’s cabin, cockpit and controls

also followed the same layout as those

Above, a detail of the

front landing gear of a

DC-3. Enormous efforts

were made to increase

the sturdiness of the

landing gear and to make

its operation smoother.

The front wheels of

the DC-3 touched the

ground ﬁrst, and only

after this would a further

reduction in speed result

in the little rear wheel

touching the ground.

(including American Airlines themselves)

used it regularly for daily flights, while

waiting for its replacement to be available.

Continual evolution

In its first version, the DST was powered

by two Wright Cyclone R-1820 G2 air-

Arthur Emmons Raymond (1899-1999) was a central figure in the

development of the DST/DC-3. Raymond was born in Boston and

grew up in Pasadena. He was taken on by Douglas in May 1925, and

a short time later he joined the design department. In the course of

his career, he became first Chief Engineer (1934), and then Vice-

President of the company with responsibility for design (1939), an

office he held until 1960, the year he retired. For almost 35 years,

Raymond was involved in all the major projects of the Douglas

Aircraft Company, from the DC-2 to the DC-8, and he played a key

role in planning the company’s activities during the Second World

War. Between 1960 and 1969, Raymond collaborated with NASA

on the design of the Gemini and Apollo missions. Raymond also

played a vital part in the creation in 1946 of RAND (Research ANd

Development), which developed over the years into the well-known

think tank of international politics.

The Designer: Arthur E. Raymond

The instrument panel of the DST consisted of

115 items, including switches, gauges and other

control instruments.

Build Douglas DC

of the DC-1 and DC-2 (with several

improvements), and, apart from the

windscreen tending to let in water in poor

weather conditions, they were a big step

forward compared to the usual standards.

The control surfaces were connected by

cables to the pilot’s and co-pilot’s joystick,

pedals and control column. The ailerons,

elevators and tabs could also be controlled

from the cabin. The control surfaces were

operated by an autopilot system, which,

during the flight, maintained the direction

and pitch of the aircraft through a dedicated

hydraulic system. With the thrust levers of

the central control column, the pilot could

control the rotational speed of the propellers

for each engine, as well as the power

developed and the air/fuel ratio of the fuel

mixture, the latter according to three values

set by the manufacturer (Maximum Rich,

Auto Rich and Auto Lean).

A US Army Air Service DC-3 (C-47 Skytrain). It was

this aircraft which contributed to a large extent to

the commercial success of the Douglas Company

during the Second World War. This side view clearly

shows the front landing gear, only partly retracted

into the engine nacelles, the ﬁxed rear landing

wheel and the six windows on the side, instead of

the seven of the civilian version.

60 Build Douglas DC

The dawn of a new era

The Douglas Aircraft Company

The Douglas Aircraft Co. was founded in

1921 in Santa Monica, California, out of the

ashes of the Davis-Douglas Company, by

Donald W. Douglas Sr (1892-1981), then

chief engineer at the Glenn Martin Co.

and former Chief Civilian Engineer in the

aeronautical section of the US Army Signal

Corps. In June of that year, the Cloudster

of the Davis-Douglas Co. had attempted

(unsuccessfully) to complete the first

transcontinental flight without a stopover,

but the company owed its success to

the creation of the Douglas World Cruiser

in 1923 as a project initiated by the US

Army Air Service. In the following year,

the DWC was the first aircraft to fly round

the world, enabling Douglas to create the

slogan ‘First Around the World – First

the World Around’ and the logo with the

aircraft and globe, characteristics found in

various forms of the company’s logo since

then. The achievement paved the way

for a fruitful collaboration with the armed

forces. By 1926, the production capacity

Logo of the Douglas Aircraft Co. On the globe are the silhouettes of the three DWC aircraft which successfully

ﬂew round the world in 1924. The scroll displays the company’s motto ‘First Around the World’, a slogan often

reproduced on the fuselages of its aircraft.

of Douglas had reached 100 planes a year,

thanks to the construction and subsequent

extension of the factory at Clover Field.

However, the major thrust behind the

development of Douglas came with its

commercial aircraft in the 1930s (the DC-2

and, above all, the DC-3), and from orders

following the outbreak of the Second

World War. Between 1942 and 1945, the

company built about 30,000 aircraft, under

licence or within larger consortia. Besides

Already Chief Engineer at

Glenn Martin Co. and former

Chief Civilian Engineer of the

aeronautical section of the US

Army Signal Corps, Donald

W. Douglas Sr. (1892-1981)

founded the Douglas Aircraft

Company in 1921 and

remained its President until

1957, when he handed the

position over to his son Donald

W. Douglas Jr. while remaining

President of the Board

of Directors.

Build Douglas DC

the military version of the DC-3 (the C-47,

known as the Skytrain in the United States

and the Dakota in Great Britain), these

included the B-17 Flying Fortress heavy

bomber (built in association with Boeing™

and the Vega Aircraft Co.), the multi-role

DB-7 (A-20, called the Havoc in the United

States and the Boston in Great Britain), the

SBD Dauntless dive bomber and the A-26

Invader light bomber. After the war, the

company continued along this dual track

with the production of civilian aeroplanes

such as the DC-6 (which entered service

in 1947), the DC-7 (entry into service in

1953), the DC-8 (which entered service in

1959) and the DC-9 (which entered service

in 1965), alongside that of military aircraft

such as the A-1 Skyraider (which entered

service in 1947), the A-3 Skywarrior

(which entered service in March 1956) and

the A-4 Skyhawk (which entered service

in October 1956).

Employees at the Douglas

plant working on an aircraft

engine. During the Second

World War, the number

of people working for the

company rose to 160,000,

many of them women.

But in the years that

followed, the numbers

were drastically reduced

and several plants were

closed, including those in

Oklahoma City, Tulsa

and Chicago.

After the war, the Douglas Company

played a key role in the introduction of the

jet engine, first in a military context with the

F3D Skyknight, later designated the F-10

(first flight: 1948, entry into service: 1951),

and the F4D Skyray, later the F-6 Skyray

(first flight: 1951, entry into service: 1956),

then in the civilian context with the DC-

8, developed in response to the challenge

launched by Boeing with its B-707. In the

1950s, the Douglas Company – managed

since 1957 by the founder’s son, Donald W.

Douglas Jr. – also became involved in the

field of missiles, securing the contracts for

the Skybolt and Thor military programmes,

as well as for the construction of the

S-IVB, the third stage of NASA’s Saturn

rocket. It was the experience it developed

in this field which led Douglas to merge

on 28 April 1967 with the McDonnell

Aircraft Corporation of Saint Louis to form

McDonnell-Douglas, the corporate name

under which the company continued to

operate (with varying fortunes) until it was

finally absorbed by Boeing in 1997.

62 Build Douglas DC

Assembly Guide

N.B. A few elements supplied in each pack may vary slightly from those in the step-by-step

photographs. In particular, the layout of the components on the sheets of laser-cut plywood parts

may not be completely identical – but once you have separated the individual pieces from the

sheets, each one will be exactly the same as the parts shown being assembled here.

Take the laser-cut plywood pieces for the left side of the

passenger cabin. Using a craft knife, remove the pieces one at

a time as they are required in the instructions. Sand the edges

with ﬁne sandpaper to make them smooth.

Start by assembling the left side of the cabin. Fit and glue

piece 3F to pieces 3A and 3B as shown, checking with a set

square that the angles are exactly 90°.

Fit and glue piece 3G onto the assembly constructed in the

previous step (see photograph).

21 3

Passenger Cabin (Part 1)

Continue in the same way, ﬁtting and gluing pieces 3I, 3J, 3L,

3M and 3O in turn.

Turn the whole assembly round and position it as shown.

Fit and glue pieces 3C, 3D and 3E in their positions.

Also ﬁt and glue pieces 3H, 3K and 3N. You will now have

ﬁnished the ﬁrst part of the structure.

90°

3A 3A

3I 3E 3H 3K 3N

See the back cover for a checklist of your parts for this pack.

Build Douglas DC

363

Build Douglas DC

Assembly Guide

Now move on to assembling the second part of the

passenger cabin. Fit and glue pieces 4A and 4B into piece

4F, as shown. Remember to check with a set square that

the interior angles are 90°.

Fit and glue piece 4G into the relevant notches

in pieces 4A and 4B.

In the same way, ﬁt and glue pieces 4I, 4J, 4L, 4M,

4O, 4P and 4R.

87 9

Turn the assembly round and position it as shown, then insert

and glue pieces 4C, 4D and 4E in turn. Let the glue dry and

then add pieces 4H, 4K, 4N and 4Q. You have now completed

the second part of the left side of the cabin.

From the 2mm diameter bamboo dowel supplied with

Pack 2, cut four pegs, each 3mm long. Fit and then glue them

into the holes in the front side and rear side of the

cabin framework.

Using the two dowel pegs inserted in Step 11 as a location

guide, glue the two pieces together. Use two clamps to hold

the framework together until the glue has set.

4P 4M

4L 4I

4B 4B

4H 4K 4N

3mm 12

64 Build Douglas DC

Assembly Guide

When the glue has set, ﬁt and glue piece A1 in place. Fit and glue piece A2 in the same way. Position and glue the stringers in the notches along the

framework (see photograph). Touch up the notches with a

small ﬁle if necessary: the stringers must be ﬂush with the

proﬁle of the fuselage.

14 15

181716

Also ﬁt and glue the stringers to the lower part of the

assembly, but do not ﬁt them in the roughly square areas

indicated by the red dotted lines.

Also glue stringers to the inside of the assembly; they will be

used to support the interior lining of the cabin.

Apply wood ﬁller and leave it to dry. Then paint the assembly

green. Leave it to dry.

A1 A2

Passenger Cabin

Build Douglas DC

Assembly Guide

Take the baggage rack for the left side of the cabin, piece

CBAGG1. Remove any imperfections with a ﬁne ﬁle and

abrasive paper, then apply primer and leave it to dry.

Paint the baggage rack beige, preferably using an airbrush, and

leave it to dry.

With a brush, paint the underside of the baggage rack

Mediterranean Blue. This is the same colour as that used for

the seat backs assembled in Pack 2.

20 21

Paint one side of one stringer Mediterranean Blue and leave it

to dry. Glue it to the lower part of the baggage rack as shown

and cut off any excess at each end. Paint the side of another

stringer in the same way.

Finish the lower side of the baggage rack by painting the seven

spots black and gluing them into the positions shown.

Fit the baggage rack to the assembly from Step 18, making

sure that it is ﬂush with the upper side, then ﬁx it in position with

cyanoacrylate glue applied from the rear side.

22 23 24

CBAGG1

66 Build Douglas DC

Assembly Guide

Prepare a window frame by assembling two pieces F1 and two

pieces F2. To assemble it correctly, make sure that the part

codes on the two pieces F1 are both facing in the same direction,

because the pieces are not symmetrical (check the photograph).

Lightly sand the frame, then ﬁll and sand the characters ‘F1’ on

the inside. Apply wood ﬁller if necessary and paint the whole

Mediterranean Blue. Leave it to dry.

Take the ‘Interior lining template’ sheet of self-adhesive

paper and the ‘Plastic sheet’ and stick the sheet of paper

to the plastic.

2625 27

302928

Using a sharp craft knife, cut the sheet of plastic following the

printed outlines, so you end up with the two pieces shown in

the lower photograph. Carefully peel off the adhesive paper.

Apply primer to both pieces G1 and G2, and leave them

to dry. Refer to the photograph for the side to colour

piece G2 and, when it is dry, paint it the same colour

(beige) as used for the baggage rack.

Using a pencil, draw a faint line two millimetres from the lower

edge of piece G2 in the position shown.

F2 F1

2mm

Passenger Cabin

Build Douglas DC

Assembly Guide

Paint the area below the line drawn on piece G2 in Step 30

Mediterranean Blue, as well as the area below the windows.

Also paint the whole of piece G1 and leave it to dry.

WITHOUT GLUE, ﬁt the frame prepared in Step 26 in the

position indicated on the fuselage. Arrange it so that the

outer edge is ﬂush with rib 4I.

Use the position of the frame inserted in the previous

step as the reference point for ﬁtting piece G2. Fix it with

cyanoacrylate glue to the two ribs adjacent to the frame, but

be careful not to glue the frame.

3231 33

363534

Using your ﬁngers, press piece G2 against the ribs to follow the

curve of the structure. Then ﬁx it in place by applying adhesive

to the area indicated within the red circles, working from the

centre towards the ends.

Piece G2 must remain in contact with the curvature of the

ribs and also line up with the lower proﬁle of the baggage

rack CBAGG1.

This is how piece G2 should look when assembled and viewed

from the outside of the structure. Remove the window frame

that you used as a reference point.

4I G2

CBAGG1

68 Build Douglas DC

Assembly Guide

In the same way as Steps 33 and 34, ﬁt and glue piece G1

below piece G2.

Paint a stringer Mediterrranean Blue and glue it into the

area of the join between the baggage rack and piece G2

as shown. Remove any irregularities there may be on both

sides of the stringer.

Paint one side of the two stringers with aluminium colour. Glue

one above and one below the windows, as shown. Cut off any

excess at each end.

424140

Turn the assembly over and position it as shown. From the

back, use Mediterranean Blue to paint round all the window

openings of piece G2 as shown.

Assemble the other six frames following the instructions of

Steps 25 and 26. Then cut seven rectangles, 25 x 20mm,

from the sheet of transparent acetate.

Glue a piece of acetate to the convex side of the seven

frames (using PVA glue, because cyanoacrylate would

affect the acetate). Remove the excess acetate with a

sharp craft knife.

38 39

Passenger Cabin

Build Douglas DC

Assembly Guide

Fit the seven window frames, centring them exactly on the

openings in piece G2, if necessary, touch them up with ﬁne

abrasive paper. The acetates must be ﬂush with the ribs

(see inset). Fix the frames carefully with cyanoacrylate glue.

Take the ‘Paper for curtains’ and cut out seven pieces, 24mm

long by 12mm high.

Using a ruler, make a series of parallel marks spaced 1.5mm

from each other, pressing the paper with the blade of the craft

knife to make an impression without cutting it.

43 45

484746

Using the lines impressed with the craft knife in the previous

step, fold the paper to give it concertina folds, as shown.

Apply a very small amount of PVA glue to each of the folds

and pinch them together them with a clothes peg.

In this way, when the glue has dried you will have made a

curtain ready to be put in position. Repeat the operation to

prepare the remaining six curtains

12mm

24mm

70 Build Douglas DC

Assembly Guide

With two dots of adhesive on the aluminium-coloured

stringers which you ﬁtted above and below the windows

(see Step 39), glue the seven curtains onto one side of each

window as shown. Check the position with the inset photo.

Take the die-cast elements BA1G, C2G, C1G and C3G

shown in the detail and carefully remove any imperfections

from them. Be careful not to damage the rivets! The pieces will

be painted later, so look after them carefully in the meantime.

Clean piece BA1G with alcohol or acetone and ﬁt it into the

position shown. Do not glue it yet.

5049 51

545352

Take a spare strip of aluminium and use it to check that the

die-cast piece BA1G ﬁts in place, and will lie ﬂush with the

surrounding structure when it is clad. Then, apply adhesive

to piece BA1G and stick it in place.

Clean piece C1G and ﬁt it carefully to the underneath of the

assembly. Do not glue it.

As in Step 52, use a piece of aluminium to check that piece

C1G will lie ﬂush with the rear covering, before ﬁxing it to the

inside of the structure with glue.

C1G

BA1G

C3G

C1G

C2G

BA1G

Passenger Cabin

Build Douglas DC

Assembly Guide

Following the same procedure as before (Steps 51 to 54),

ﬁt and glue piece C2G in position.

Finally, ﬁt and glue piece C3G next to the previous one. Take the die-cut aluminium piece for covering the windows

A3L1 and rub one side of it lightly with ﬁne abrasive paper.

5655 57

605958

Put the piece in position with the non-sanded side facing

outwards, and make marks in line with the vertical ribs. The

process of positioning the aluminium is exactly the same as

that used in Pack 2 for covering the left side.

Transfer the marks made in the previous step onto the inside

of the piece.

With a ruler and a toothed wheel, trace the vertical lines of the

rivets, joining the marks made in Step 59. Make four horizontal

lines of rivets: two of them 0.5mm from the upper and lower

edges of the piece and two at the same distance above and

below the windows.

C2G

C3G

A3L1

C3G

C2G

A3L1

BEFORE

AFTER

72 Build Douglas DC

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Deagostini Douglas DC3 User guide

Deagostini Douglas DC3 User guide

Deagostini Douglas DC3 User guide

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