![]() Immediately following the war, it was returned to its original purpose of passenger carriage. Its official designation by the Army Air Corps was C-49J due being equipped with Wright engines in place of the standard Pratt and Whitney engines.Īfter the war, it changed hands many times. It’s first job in service was as a troop carrier and paratroop trainer. Due to the attack on Pearl Harbor, many aircraft were pressed into military service and 6315 was no exception. This aircraft was ordered by TWA for passenger service with Wright Cyclone engines and was completed in December of 1941. A gunship variation, using three 7.62mm miniguns, designated AC-47 “Spooky” often nicknamed “Puff the Magic Dragon” also was deployed.Īfter World War II thousands of surplus C-47’s were converted to civil airline use, some remaining in operation in 2012 as well as being used as private aircraft. EC-47s were also operated by the Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian Air Forces. Several C-47 variations were used in the Vietnam War by the United States Air Force, including three advanced electronic warfare variations, which sometimes were called “Electric Gooneys” designated EC-47N, EC-47P, or EC-47Qs depending on the engine used. The C-47 also earned the informal nickname Gooney Bird in the European theater of operations. In the Pacific, with careful use of the island landing strips of the Pacific Ocean, C-47’s were even used for ferrying soldiers serving in the Pacific theater back to the United States.Īpproximately 2,000 C-47’s in British and Commonwealth service took the name Dakota, from the acronym “DACoTA” for Douglas Aircraft Company Transport Aircraft. 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. The expertise gained flying “The Hump” would later be used in the Berlin Airlift, in which the C-47 would play a major role, until being replaced by the C-54. Possibly its most influential role in military aviation, however, was flying “The Hump” from India into China. Additionally, C-47s were used to airlift supplies to the embattled American forces during the Battle of Bastogne. 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) made it possible for Allied troops to counter the mobility of the light-traveling Japanese army. The Oklahoma City plant produced 5,354 C-47s from March 1943 until August 1945. More than 10,000 aircraft were produced in Long Beach and Santa Monica, California and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The C-47 differed from the civilian DC-3 in numerous modifications that included being fitted with a cargo door and a strengthened floor.ĭuring World War II, the armed forces of many countries used the C-47 and modified DC-3’s for the transport of troops, cargo, and wounded. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line service with various military operators through the 1970’s. Turret variant with “large winter garden”.The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner.The following submarines can be represented with the decals: U 292, U 318, U 998, U 1004. ![]() Also noteworthy is the highly detailed hull representation with rivets and welds. New components are included to represent the wooden deck with engraved pressure vessels and the Atlantic stem. Thanks to better structural steel, the boats could now dive to 250 meters. An erectable snorkel mast for fresh and exhaust air ducting, movable in the model, and four watertight pressure vessels with 5-man life rafts were further features of these submarines. This is represented in the model true to the original with two 20 mm Flak twins as well as a 37 mm M42U anti-aircraft gun. In order to be able to defend themselves better against air attacks when surfaced, the Type VII C/41 submarines were given a turret superstructure extended to form a large conservatory. The pack tactics only rarely led to the successful detection of ship convoys, and special U-fighter planes now patrolled wide areas. By this time, operational conditions had changed completely. From the summer of 1943, a total of 91 type VII C/41 submarines were put into service.
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