Douglas C-47 – Dakota
History, technical sheet and photo
Douglas C-47 – Dakota history
In December 1935, in North Carolina (United States), the first Douglas C-47 took off. Also known as DC-3, this aircraft has to provide for civil and military logistical needs: 800 units are built for the civil aviation market, while 10,000 military units are delivered from 1938 onwards.
The DC-3 is christened C-47 by the US Air Force and R-40 by the Marine Corps and the US Navy. Its role is initially essentially logistic: it carries various military equipment, and it has a much greater capacity and speed than its predecessors. But the C-47 is also used as a carrier of military personalities, communications relays, training aircraft and of course as a parachute plane.
Indeed, airborne troops were born in the United States in 1942, and the C-47, then known as the “Skytrain”, was selected for its unusual capabilities. This aircraft participates in military operations in Sicily, Operation Overlord in Normandy, and Holland during Operation Market Garden, but also in Asia and the Pacific.
Built under license in the Soviet Union and Japan, nearly 11,000 copies of the C-47 were manufactured between 1935 and 1946. After the Second World War, many Douglas C-47s joined civilian airlines from around the world, To 28 passengers. It is used by Great Britain which baptizes it “Dakota” (acronym of Douglas Aircraft Company Transport Aircraft).
Douglas C-47 – Dakota specification
Creator: United States of America
Denomination: Douglas C-47 Skytrain (Dakota in Britain)
Length: 19,65 m
Wingspan: 28,96 m
Height: 5,16 m
Unloaded weight: 7,700 kg
Maximum speed: 370 km/h
Operational range: 2,175 km
Ceiling: 7,350 m
Transport capacity: 28 passengers or 4,536 kg of cargo
Crew: 4 (four (pilot, co-pilot, navigator, radio operator))
Powerplant: two Pratt & Whitney R-1830-90C Twin Wasp 14-cylinder radial engines, 1,200 hp (895 kW) each
Versions deployed in Normandy in 1944:
– C-47 A Skytrain (Dakota III)
– C-47 B Skytrain (Dakota IV)
