The Douglas C-47 was the military adaptation of the civilian Douglas DST/DC-3. Nicknamed the "Skytrain", SkyTrooper, Dakota and was was very often affectionately called the "Gooney Bird".  It was used in all the theaters of operation during the Second World War.  The Army Air Corps took the standard Douglas airliner, strengthened the lower fuselage and installed larger cargo doors.  The C-47 had a cargo capacity of only   6,000 Lbs. (example: two jeeps, or three aircraft engines, or 28 fully armed troops, or 14 stretchers and three attendants).  

     The C-47  was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engines each rated at 1200 hp.  It had a cruising speed of 230 mph at an altitude of 8,500 feet. Empty, the C-47 had a maximum ceiling of 23,200 feet, this ceiling was considerably lower when the aircraft was fully loaded.   The C-47 had a wing-span of 95 feet and a length of 64 feet, 6 inches. Its range was 1200 miles.

C-47 Pilots Check List

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   I am looking for former members of the 3rd Combat Cargo Group,  1st, Combat Cargo Group, 2nd Combat Cargo Group and the 4th Combat Cargo Group.  In fact I would like to hear from anyone who flew over the Hump during WW II, or flew any Combat Cargo Missions at any time (Berlin Air-Lift, Korea, etc) 

Please e-mail comment, suggestions, corrections,etc to: bill.b@erols.com

Imphal, the Hump and Beyond Copyright © 1999 Bill Bielauskas   All rights reserved.

Bill Bielauskas  10 Cayuga Trail, Wayne,  NJ.   07470-4406

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