C-47D "Skytrain"

The C-47, nicknamed the "Gooney Bird," was adapted from the DC-3 commercial airliner that appeared in 1936. The first C-47s were ordered in 1940, and by the end of World War II the United States had procured 9,348 for Army Air Forces use. They carried personnel and cargo and, in combat, towed troop-carrying gliders and dropped paratroops into enemy territory. After the war, many C-47s remained in Air Force service, participating in the Berlin Airlift and other peacetime activities. During the Korean conflict, 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, including flying ground attack, reconnaissance, and psychological warfare missions. This aerospace vehicle, a C-47D, is part of the U.S.A.F. Heritage Program Collection.

Lackland AFB, Texas · United States