C-47

[THE PILGRIM]

A tale from old Buddy Leo - WWII B-17 Flight Engineer, Gunner.
After the war, his Dad got him on mining coal.
After a short time, Leo reenlisted.
So he's working in C-47 maintenance and one long night is on a cross country flight.
So a poker game breaks out. One of the guys playing is a passenger they had picked up.
So they are flying and playing.
Then the passenger starts to get nervous. Nervous in the Service is of course pretty common.
The crew guys all figured out why but didn't say anything.
Finally the passenger blurts out 'Who's flying the airplane?'
Both the pilots were in the card game.
Somebody answered, it's Sgt. so and So.
Then somebody else said, not to worry.
He's got a lot of time flying the Gooney Bird.
He was a pilot in War Two.

 

[jpage]

Who was the great man who said that the best contributors to winning WW2 were the Jeep,the M1 Garand and the C47?
Qc

Pretty sure it was Patton

 

[carpriver]

I got a chance to load and unload the C-47, with both cargo and passengers, the passengers were floor loaded also. Saw several of the dragon ships rain fire on the enemy. a sight to behold a sound to fear.

 

[crazyphil]

I got on a C-47 at Lackland AFB in May 1952. I know the DC-3 is rated
for 20 to 30 passengers depending on configuration, but I swear there
were at least 60 airman on the plane. It made it's takeoff run, groaning,
shaking, swaying, and squeaking. Finally it was airborne and we landed
5 or 6 hours later at F. E. Warren AFB Wyoming. My first flight. I was
17 at the time. I've flown millions of miles since but never forgot the first one.

 

[BUFF]

Salt Lake City is located in a bowl, surrounded by mountains. In 1956, my folks bought a house on the east side of the valley, at the mouth of Parley's Canyon, where I-80 would eventually go and take you to Denver.

SLC is already at about 4,500 feet, I think. I knew a fair number of airplanes on sight by the time I was 6.

In the summer, I would lay on the grass and watch the airliners heading east from our airport. Some needed to take advantage of the canyon to get out of the valley. The 4 engine props (DC-4 and -6) did fine, but the DC-3s would just sort of hang there, making noise.

I still love the sound those old piston engine radials make.

 

[PPS1980]

I've made it a sort of hobby to fly in WWII aircraft. The C-47/R4D is one of them. Fun flight, helps put all the stories I heard from WWII Vets into better perspective. Amazing how much was accomplished with them given how small they actually are in real life.

 

[ron_c]

C-47 background, Dominican Air Force. Dec. 1965, Dominican Republic, 82nd Abn. Div. There was also the AC-47, Puff, The Magic Dragon or Spooky. Seeing one of these in operation at night was some sight.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

My first flight was with my buddy Joe. The was a C-47 at Buchanan Field in Concord, Ca. just after WW2 that took passengers on a ride over the Golden Gate & S.F Bay for 5 bucks. It was an Army plane, Olive Drab paint aluminum benches along both sides of the cabin. Gosh, that was a long time ago.

 

[DanWales]

Flew on one many hrs in the early 60's. I was a dependent we flew back and forth from Italy to France to school, twice a year.

One trip we flew into a really bad hail storm over south France. We had to make a forced landing in Marselles. It badly dented the leading edges of the wings, fractured the cockpit window as well. We were some scared young'ens.

Dan

 

[Old 44 Guy]

I believe the actor Tyrone Powers flew one in WW2.

 

[crazyphil]

I believe the actor Tyrone Powers flew one in WW2.

I looked it up. He was in the Marine Corps. He flew a Navy
R5C which is the Navy version of a C-46. (close enough)

He flew cargo in and wounded out of the battle at Iwo Jima.

Died at 44. Full military honors at his funeral.

I never knew all that about him. Thanks Old Guy.

 

[Abbynormal]

A small airfield south of Indy during the 70's had 2 WWII C47s (OD with double doors and
blacked over stars and bars) and advertised parachute jumps for $45. That included ground
school and 1 static jump.

Dreams of the 82nd and 101st filled my mind and when I finally got my nerves and $45 together,
I went to Mooresville to do it.

I found multiple Indiana State Police and DEA agents at the airfield and found that the parachute
school also used the ex WWII C47s to haul weed into the small airfield!

Too late to get the t-shirt. Never had the interest in doing a tandem jump at other schools though.

 

[Kernel Crittenden]

After WWII the Air Force really wanted a newer 2-engine transport, they really liked the Convair CV-240 with it's far superior Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine and tricycle landing gear. The same engine that had powered all of our best war winning fighters like the Hellcat, Thunderbolt, and Corsair.

But there were so many C-47's (over 10,000 made) they could never justify phasing them all out for financial reasons. There were so many spare parts and spare engines left over from WWII, plus those parts were already stocked to the gills and pre-positioned in warehouses all over the globe.

It was a great air plane in it's day, but the bean counters made the Air Force keep the old C-47 around much longer than they probably should of.

 

[CajunBass]

I don't know about C-47's much, but I grew up in rural Hanover County, right under the flight path into/out of Byrd Airport (Now RIC) in Richmond. I saw many a DC-3, most in Piedmont Airlines colors, going in, coming out of Richmond.

I thought it was the prettiest plane in the world. Well, one of. The other was the F-86 Saber. Still do.

 

[SteveA]

A couple of years ago there was a Planes of Fame airshow in Topeka. I talked my Dad into going up (WWII and Korea vet - infantry). Took my oldest son, I believe 12 at the time and an old college buddy of mine. Turns out they were giving free flights to vets and took us all up in a C-47 for an hour hop. Great experience for all of us. Then later in the day they took my Dad up for a ride in a P-51. He was 88 or 89 at the time and when they landed he declared he'd been in the wrong branch of the service.

 

[H Richard]

I did a few miles on the Gooney Bird back in the early 60's flying back and forth from England to Germany, and France to Italy. They sometimes had trouble getting over the Alps, but we always made it. Probably one of the most reliable planes ever built.

 

[DWalt]

My first flight ever was in a Marine R4D from Columbus OH to Quantico, back around 1960. I still remember the webbing seats on the sides. In the early-mid 1960s, many smaller commercial passenger airlines were still using DC-3s for short hop service, and I rode in them quite a few times.

 

[steveno]

having worked on a couple of these old airplanes and knowing what they had for avionics I'm really surprised that during D-Day they even found France in the dark let alone get to the right spot on time for the paratroopers. surely the flight crews didn't have much flying time.

 

[M E Morrison]

having worked on a couple of these old airplanes and knowing what they had for avionics I'm really surprised that during D-Day they even found France in the dark let alone get to the right spot on time for the paratroopers. surely the flight crews didn't have much flying time.

Use your magnetic compass, follow the exhaust flames of your leader, and PRAY A LOT !!!

 

[steveno]

EC-47

more on the guys that flew the EC-47

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XFmGm916w0[/ame]