When the DC-3 made its first flight back on 17 December 1935, I'm fairly certain that Donald Douglas never imagined that examples would still be in commercial service almost 87 years later. Florida Air Cargo operates three DC-3s on regular cargo flights and I recently visited the company's home base at Opa-Locka Airport (OPF) in Miami, where I spoke to company president Sergio Alen. Sergio purchased Florida Air Cargo in 2012 and it is the second airline operating out of OPF with that name. Sergio has an extensive aviation background, which has been critical to the success of the operation. His first aviation job was in 1978 with Caribbean Aircraft Development Industries (CADI). The company was involved in converting four-engine de Havilland Herons to 10-520 power for the Puerto Rican airline Prinair. His next job was with Eastern Airlines before he moved on to M&M Aircraft Services, which specialized in JT3D and JT8D jet engine overhauls. In 1987, he earned his private pilot's license and instrument rating but flying jobs were hard to come by and it was five years before he landed his first flying job as a DC-6 flight engineer for Miami-based Regal Cargo. The job kept him away from home quite a bit and, with three young daughters at home, Sergio decided to cut short his flying career.
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