I've flown in one of these.

My first plane ride was on the last flight one of these made. It was an American Airlines flight from Nashville, TN to Louisville, KY.

I was very young, but I remember it.

DOUGLAS DC-3

MSNBC:

Claim to fame: Defined commercial aviation.

It wasn’t fast and it wasn’t glamorous, but the durable DC-3 set the template for commercial aviation as we know it. Its origins were pragmatic, all the way back to the day in 1935 when American Airlines convinced Donald Douglas to build an aircraft that could accommodate sleeping berths and more passengers. Other airline executives quickly appreciated the plane’s flexibility and affordability and filled out their fleets with DC-3s.

Customers clamored for seats and executives willingly paid for its fold-down sleeper beds and luxury service. But as the Depression deepened, the Douglas Sleeper Transport model was reconfigured to pack in 28 passengers. The DC-3’s affordable tickets and proven safety record convinced Americans who had never flown before to take to the air. And with the DC-3 priced at about $120,000, half the cost of other transports, airlines could buy more planes and add new routes. Soon the airlines were showing some of their first profits ever — proof that flying could in fact make money.

The DC-3 first flew on Dec. 17, 1935. It was valued for its ability to make air travel comfortable to passengers and profitable to airlines. Thousands of C-47s (the military version of the DC-3) went into service during World War II; they ferried supplies and troops around the globe and even entered combat. Many Allied soldiers got their first plane ride in a C-47, a memory that would linger as they returned to civilian life after the war. The Axis powers even built knockoff versions of the trusty Gooney Bird.

After the war, the airlines built up their fleets again with DC-3s and surplus C-47s, sometimes buying them for just a few thousand dollars. As the airlines developed hub systems, DC-3s remained mainstays of commercial fleets and survived in mainline service well into the jet era. Dozens remain in service today.

With its remarkable flying record and comfortable ride, the DC-3 demonstrated that air travel could be for everyone. History has largely borne that out.