C-47 Skytrain
Posted 1/30/2004
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The first C-47s were ordered in 1940 and by the end of World War II, 9,348 had been procured for Army Air Forces use. They carried personnel and cargo, and in a combat role, towed troop-carrying gliders and dropped paratroops into enemy territory. Few aircraft are as well known or were so widely used for so long as the C-47 or "Gooney Bird" as it was nicknamed. The aircraft was adapted from the Douglas DC-3 commercial airliner which appeared in 1936.
After World War II, many C-47s remained in U.S. Air Force service, participating in the Berlin Airlift and other peacetime activities. For 11 months, the Berlin Airlift sustained the city's 2.5 million residents in one of the greatest feats in aviation history. At the start of the airlift the main aircraft used was the C-47. They first were to carry 80 tons of milk, flour and medicine, and the C-47 was the first fatality crash near Wiesbaden, Germany, killing all on board.
During the Korean War, C-47s hauled supplies, dropped paratroops, evacuated wounded and dropped flares for night bombing attacks. In Vietnam, the C-47 served again as a transport, but it was also used in a variety of other ways which included flying ground attack (gunship), reconnaissance and psychological warfare missions.
General Characteristics:- Primary function: transport
- Builder: Douglas
- Span: 95 feet 0 inches
- Length: 64 feet 5 inches
- Height: 16 feet 11 inches
- Weight: 33,000 pounds loaded
- Armament: None
- Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney R-1830s of 1,200 horsepower each
- Crew: Six
- Cost: $138,000
- Maximum speed: 232 mph
- Cruising speed: 175 mph
- Range: 1,513 miles
- Service ceiling: 24,450 feet
Sources compiled from U.S. Air Force Museum and U.S. Air Forces in Europe Office of History. |
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