DOUGLAS C-47B "SKYTRAIN"

Few aircraft are as well known or were so widely used for so long as the C-47 or "Gooney Bird," as it was affectionately nicknamed.  The aircraft was adapted from the DC-3 commercial airliner which appeared in 1936.  The first C-47s were ordered in 1940, and by the end of WWII 9,348 had been procured for Army Air Force (AAF) use.  They carried personnel and cargo, and in a combat role, towed troop-carrying gliders and dropped paratroops into enemy territory.

After WWII, many C-47s remained in then USAF service, participating in the Berlin Airlift and other peacetime activities.  During the Korean Conflict, C-47s hauled supplies, dropped paratroopers, evacuated wounded and dropped flares for night bombing attacks.  In Southeast Asia, 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.

Warner Robins Air Logistics Center assumed worldwide logistics management responsibility for the C-47 in 1959.  The Museum's C-47 was actually purchased for the U.S. Navy, delivered in November 1944 as an R4D-6, and was retired by the Navy in 1973.  It was acquired from the Navy and moved to the Museum in 1984.

 

SPECIFICATIONS:
Span 95 feet
Length 64 feet 5 inches
Height 16 feet 11 inches
Weight 33,000 lbs loaded
Armament None
Engine Two Pratt & Whitney R-1830s of 1,200 hp each
Crew Four
Cost $138,000
Serial Number 43-49442
 
PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed 232 mph
Cruising speed 175 mph
Range 1,513 miles
Service ceiling 24,450 feet

 

 

Museum of Aviation      GA Hwy 247 & Russell Parkway      Warner Robins, GA 31088      (478) 926-6870