C-47 Skytrain

C-47 Skytrain C-53 Skytrooper
Type	Military transport aircraft
Manufacturer	Douglas Aircraft Company
Designed by	Douglas Aircraft
Primary users	U.S. Army Air Force US Air Force Royal Air Force See operators
Number built	>10,000
Developed from	Douglas DC-3
Variants	Lisunov Li-2 AC-47 Spooky

Lawson Field, Ft. Benning, Georgia. At the command of their jump leader, these 21 students of the Airborne School climb aboard a waiting C-47 of the 75th Troop Carrier Squadron which will take them up for a practice jump.

The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950's with a few remaining in operation to this day.

Design and development

During World War II, the armed forces of many countries used the C-47 and modified DC-3s for the transport of troops, cargo and wounded. Over 10,000 aircraft were produced in Long Beach and Santa Monica, California and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Operational history

The C-47 was vital to the success of many Allied campaigns, in particular those at Guadalcanal and in the jungles of New Guinea and Burma where the C-47 (and its naval version, the R4D) alone made it possible for Allied troops to counter the mobility of the light-travelling Japanese army. Additionally, C-47s were used to airlift supplies to the embattled American forces during the Battle of Bastogne. But possibly its most influential role in military aviation was flying The Hump from India into China where the expertise gained would later be used in the Berlin Airlift in which the C-47 would also play its part.

In Europe, the C-47 and a specialized paratroop variant, the C-53 Skytrooper, were used in vast numbers in the later stages of the war, particularly to tow gliders and drop paratroops. In the Pacific, with careful use of the island landing strips of the Pacific Ocean, C-47s were even used for ferrying soldiers serving in the Pacific theater back to the United States.

C-47s in British and Commonwealth service took the name Dakota. The C-47 also earned the nickname "Gooney Bird" during the European theater of operations.

The USAF Strategic Air Command had C-47 Skytrains in service from 1946 through 1947.

After World War II the U.S. Navy also structurally modified a number of the early Navy R4D aircraft and re-designated the modified aircraft as R4D-8.

The C-47 was used by the Americans in the initial stages of the Berlin Airlift and was subsequently replaced by the C-54.

The Air Force also continued to use the C-47 for various roles, including the AC-47 gunships - code named 'Puff the Magic Dragon' or 'Spooky' - and the EC-47 for counterintelligence during the Vietnam War.

The Royal Canadian Air Force also adopted the C-47 for use in search & rescue operations throughout the 1940s and 50s.

Variants

Paratroop C-47, 12th Air Force Troop Carrier Wing. Invasion of southern France, 15 August 1944.

Interior view of Douglas C-47, Hendon Airdrome, England.

C-47

Initial military version of DC-3.

C-47A

24-volt electrical system replacing the 12-volt of the C-47.

C-47B

Powered by R-1830-90 engines with superchargers and extra fuel capacity to cover the China-Burma-India routes.

C-47D

C-47B with superchargers removed after the war.

C-47T

Used for training.

C-48 to C-52

Various civilian DC-3s pressed into military service.

C-53

US Army passenger version of the C-47.

C-117/C-129 Super DC-3

Equipped with landing gear covers and enlarged empennage.

XCG-17

A glider version of the C-47, intended to be towed by a C-47.

Operators

See also: List of C-47 Skytrain operators

Portuguese Air Force C-47A

Swedish Air Force Tp 79 (C-47A)

C-47 in RAF markings at an exhibition in 2004

C-47 in USAAF markings with invasion stripes, Rotterdam 1985

Specifications (C-47B)

General characteristics

• Crew: 3
• Capacity: 28 troops
• Payload: 6,000 lb (2,700 kg) of cargo
• Length: 63 ft 9 in (19.43 m)
• Wingspan: 95 ft 6 in (29.11 m)
• Height: 17 ft 0 in (5.18 m)
• Wing area: 987 ft² (91.70 m²)
• Empty weight: 18,135 lb (8,225 kg)
• Loaded weight: 26,000 lb (11,800 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 31,000 lb (14,000 kg)
• Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney R-1830-90C "Twin Wasp" 14-cylinder radial engines, 1,200 hp (895 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 224 mph (195 knots, 360 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 160 mph (140 knots, 260 km/h)
• Range: 1,600 mi (1,400 nm, 2,600 km)
• Service ceiling: 26,400 ft (8,050 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,130 ft/min (5.75 m/s)
• Wing loading: 26.3 lb/ft² (129 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.092 hp/lb (150 W/kg)

Trivia

In 2007, the BBC show Top Gear ran a special program in which Jeremy Clarkson and James May raced a customized 2005 model Toyota Hilux to the North Magnetic Pole from Northern Canada against Richard Hammond with a pack of dogs, making the truck the first car to make it to the North Magnetic Pole. Right before reaching their destination they found a crashed C-47 Skytrain. It crashed during takeoff from the Isachsen weather station's airstrip at October 9th, 1949 ^[1]. The holes in the plane which are visible in the Top Gear episode were caused by vandalism. The plane's id number was 316062.

References

C-47 Dakota of the Hellenic Air Force.

• Flintham, V. (1990) Air Wars and Aircraft: A Detailed Record of Air Combat, 1945 to the Present. Facts on File. ISBN 0816023565
• Francillon, René (1979). McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Since 1920: Volume I. London: Putnam. ISBN 0-87021-428-4. 
• Yenne, Bill (1985). McDonnell Douglas: A Tale of Two Giants. Greenwich, Connecticut: Bison Books. ISBN 0-517-44287-6. 

External links

• The Assault Glider Trust
• Combataircraft.com C-47 profile
• Warbird Alley: C-47 page

Related content

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

C-47 Skytrain

Related development

• Douglas DC-3
• AC-47 Spooky
• Lisunov Li-2

Comparable aircraft

• C-46 Commando

Designation sequence

• Army sequence:
  • C-44 - C-45 - C-46 - C-47 - C-48 - C-49 - C-50 - C-51 - C-52 - C-53 - C-54 - C-55 - C-56
• Navy sequence:
  • RD - R2D - R3D - R4D - R5D - R6D

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of the United States

See also

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