SKYTRAINS. It's the diamond jubilee for the DC-3 and its military cousin the C-47. One DC-3 is still in commercial service, in Canada.

"This was the first plane that made commercial airline travel possible," said John Tegtmeier, a retired American Airlines pilot who is in Oshkosh with the Flagship Detroit Foundation. "Before then they had to rely on air mail contracts to make money."

DC-3s could carry 21 passengers - seven more than the DC-2 - and airlines could finally make a profit flying humans instead of just cargo and mail. Still, in the late '30s when the Flagship Detroit was flying, a Dallas-New York plane ticket cost $260, which meant only the rich could travel by air. This week AirVenture visitors can walk through the Flagship Detroit for $3.

That profit for carrying passengers was then, and still is, illusory.