I learned that there are Douglas DC-3 planes still flying today, more than 80 years after they were first made.
The DC-3 is one of the most revolutionary aircraft ever made. They were produced from around 1935–1945 (including military variants like the C-47), and thousands of the planes were used in commercial flights or as military transports during WWII. It was the first aeroplane to make commercial passenger aviation profitable, and it's a testament to the plane's sturdy, adaptable design that they are still used to this day.
In New Zealand there's at least one airline that has it in active service: Air Chathams, a small regional airline that runs a DC-3 plane on its Auckland–Whakatane passenger route in summer months, along with charter flights at other times. The plane itself was made in 1945, and has been in service with both the Royal NZ Air Force and for passenger services around the Pacific. Good grief, I might have to book a flight while it's still around.
_________________
It is easy to go down into Hell;
Night and day, the gates of dark Death stand wide;
But to climb back again, to retrace one's steps to the upper air –
There's the rub, the task.
– Virgil, The Aeneid (Book VI)