Douglas C-47 Skytrain
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain was a military transport that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner.
History
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, California and Santa Monica, California. The C-47 was vital to the success of many Allied campaigns, in particular those 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. In Europe, the C-47 and a specialized paratroop variant, the C-53, 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 US.
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 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' - used during the Vietnam War.
Specifications
Specifications (C-47B)
General characteristics
- Crew: 3
- Capacity: 28 troops or 6,000 lbs. (2,700 kg) of cargo
- Length: 63 ft 9 in (19.43 m)
- Wingspan: 95 ft 6 in (29.11 m)
- Height: 17 ft (5.18 m)
- Wing area: 987 ft² (91.70 m²)
- Empty: 18,135 lb (8,225 kg)
- Loaded: 26,000 lb (11,800 kg)
- Maximum takeoff: 31,000 lb (14,100 kg)
- Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp R-1830-90C 14-cylinder radials with 1,200 hp (895 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 224 mph (360 km/h)
- Cruising speed: 160 mph (257 km/h)
- Range: 1,600 miles (2,575 km)
- Service ceiling: 26,400 ft (8.045 m)
- Rate of climb: 10,000 ft/min (3,050 m/min)
- Wing loading: 26.3 lb/ft² (128.6 kg/m²)
- Power loading: 10.8 lbs/hp (6.59 kg/kW)
Units using the C-47 or Militarized DC-3
United States Army Air Force
Royal Air Force
- No. 10 Squadron - No. 18 Squadron - No. 21 Squadron
- No. 24 Squadron - No. 27 Squadron - No. 30 Squadron
- No. 31 Squadron - No. 46 Squadron - No. 48 Squadron
- No. 52 Squadron - No. 53 Squadron - No. 62 Squadron
- No. 70 Squadron - No. 76 Squadron - No. 77 Squadron
- No. 78 Squadron - No. 96 Squadron - No. 110 Squadron
- No. 113 Squadron - No. 114 Squadron - No. 117 Squadron
- No. 147 Squadron - No. 167 Squadron - No. 187 Squadron
- No. 194 Squadron - No. 204 Squadron - No. 206 Squadron
- No. 209 Squadron - No. 215 Squadron - No. 216 Squadron
- No. 231 Squadron - No. 233 Squadron - No. 238 Squadron
- No. 243 Squadron - No. 267 Squadron - No. 271 Squadron
- No. 353 Squadron - No. 357 Squadron - No. 435 Squadron (RCAF)
- No. 436 Squadron (RCAF) - No. 437 Squadron (RCAF) - No. 511 Squadron
- No. 512 Squadron - No. 525 Squadron - No. 575 Squadron
- No. 620 Squadron
- 35 Squadron (Still in use, flying the Turbo Dakota.)
- No. 44 Squadron SAAF (employed in 1944 and 1945 to support operations in the Greek Civil War
- No. 355 Squadron RHAF (employed in the Greek Civil War from 1946 through 1948)
Reference
- 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, CT: Bison Books. ISBN 0-517-442876
External Links
| Related content | |
|---|---|
| Related Development | C-47 Dakota |
| Similar Aircraft | |
| Designation Series | |
| Related lists | |