A while back, I posted this picture of C-47A-25-DK 42-93790
This is the history I have on her. I also did a little lookin at some of the airfields she was stationed. Hope its a decent read
C-47A-25-DK 42-93790 was manufactured by Douglas Aircraft in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma equipped with two 1200ho R-1830-92 Twin Wasp engines, 24 Volt electrical system, capable of carrying a crew of four, combat ready troops, or 6,000 pounds of cargo, or 18 liter patients. As US and Allied soldiers moved deeper into France, 790 was delivered to the United States Army Air Force on 27 June 1944. .
She was flown to Robins Field, Georgia, which was named in honor of the “Father of Logistics” Brigadier General Augustine Warner Robins, who was the driving force in establishing the first official and workable Air Force supply maintenance and accountability system.
General Robins also helped in the establishment of official guidelines for the training of logistics officers, Non Commissioned Officers, and civilians working for what became known as the Air Force. Brigadier Augustine Warner Robins died 16 June 1940 at Randolph Field, Texas while serving as Commandant of the Air Corps Training Center. He is the namesake of the city of Warner Robins, Georgia.
790 was assigned to the
4005th Base Unit until
December 1944 when, remaining at Robins Field, she was transferred to the
4117th Base Unit.
May 1945, the war in ETO is over, followed by the war in the pacific ending a little over 90 days later and 790 is slated to be flown to
Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona for storage, arriving there with the
4105th Base Unit in April 1946.
The earliest days of Davis-Monthan’s civil aviation history can be traced back to 1925, when the city of Tucson obtained some acreage southeast of the city. The field was named in honor of Lieutenants Samuel H. Davis, and Oscar Monthan, both were World War One aviators, both were killed in separate aircraft accidents.
Lieutenant Samuel H. Davis of San Antonio, Texas, and Lieutenant William G. Sinclair of Augusta, Arkansas, were killed in Arcadia Florida, when their aircraft went into a tail spin, crashed and burned (as published in the New York Times on 29 December 1921). Lieutenant Oscar Monthan, was killed along with four other airmen when their Marin B2 (NBS-1) bomber crashed on a training mission in Hawaii on 27 March 1924. The Field was dedicated as Davis-Monthan Field by Charles Lindberg in 1927. The first military customer at Davis-Monthan, then the largest municipal airport in the United States, was James H. Doolittle, 9 October 1927.
In
February 1947, 790 was pulled from storage and assigned to the
4126th AAF Base Unit (San Bernardino Air Depot) San Bernardino, California, for repairs and maintenance.
Before World War Two, the San Bernardino Air Depot was a Municipal Airport until the summer of 1941, when it became a training base to accommodate the needs of the Pilot Training Program, and renamed San Bernardino Army Air Field in 1942, where the Air Depot was established. The Depot’s primary function was the maintenance and repair of military aircraft. The San Bernardino Air Depot was renamed Norton Air Force Base in 1950 after Captain Leland Norton a veteran of 16 combat missions in World War Two, who died in the crash of his stricken A-20 Havoc near Amines, France after ordering his crew to abandon their stricken bomber.
January 1948, 790 was dispatched to the
4119th Base Unit (Air Material Command), Brookley Field, Alabama, which was formerly named Bates Field. In 1938, the airfield was renamed Brookley Army Air Field.
February 1948, 709 was reassigned to the
114th Bombardment Squadron (Air National Guard) Mitchel Air Force Base (originally called Hazelhurst Aviation Field #2), New York, where the cargo aircraft was apparently put to work, as she shared the airfield during this period with Classic Aircraft Aviation Museum’s A-26C 44-35708, which was there in April of 1948.
http://www.classicaircraft.org/Document ... -35708.doc
Mitchel Field was named after Major John Purry Mitchel on 16 July 1918. Major Mitchel was killed in unspecified accident on 6 July 1918 while in Louisiana. He was an early advocate of American Air Power, and had served as the Mayor of New York. October 1923 - First Airplane Jumping “contest” in the nation, two world’s airplane speed records were established. 1924 – Air Mail service had its inception in experimental flights began there. In September 1929, Lieutenant James H. Doolittle, at this airfield, made the world’s first blind flight.
http://www.hempsteadplains.com/mfhst00.htm
December 1950, U.S. Forces saw the evacuation of the Port of Inchon. Sinanju, Anju, Kanggye, Pyongyang, and Wonsan Korea, are the targets of raids conducted by Fifth Air Force Boeing B-29 Heavy Bombers, 790 is reassigned to the
106th Composite Group (ANG), Floyd Bennett Naval Air Station, New York. Her role is presumed by me to have been that as a Support Aircraft.
http://www.geocities.com/fort_tilden/fbf.html The Airfield was named for Floyd Bennett, a resident of Brooklyn, and a Naval Aviator, the first person to fly over the North Pole.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Bennett
April 1951, as the Chinese commences its Spring Offensive with an assault 40 to 50 miles northeast of Seoul, Korea, 790 is flown to the extreme Northwest, assigned to the
39th Air Defense Wing (Alaskan Air Command), Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. The Air Force Base was named after Captain Hugh M. Elmendorf who was killed on Friday the 13th January 1933 in the crash of an Y1P-25, an experimental fighter near Wright Field, Ohio. Due to a lack of records, I can presume that the mission of 790 was that of a Support/Transport Aircraft.
July 1951, 790 is transferred to the
5064th Cold Weather Material Testing Squadron (AAC), Ladd Air Force Base, Alaska. Ladd Air Force Base was named after U.S. Army Air Corps Major Arthur K. Ladd, who was killed in a plane crash in South Carolina in 1935. The 5064th was under the umbrella of aircraft maintenance and shop facilities.
September 1954 790 was assigned to the
5001st Operations Squadron (AAC) Ladd AFB, Alaska, This Squadron in the past (1950) did Research and Development at Ladd, monitoring artic tests of equipment and materials, provide test facilities and Admin Services. 790’s assignment at Ladd would last nearly 3 years.
June 1957 790 is transferred to the
5039th Air Transport Squadron (AAC), Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. 790 was used as a Support Aircraft of the Alaska Air Command for nearly 4 months, until…
October 1957 when 790 was transferred to the
5040th Consolidated Logistics Maintenance Squadron (AAC) at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
May 1958 790 is reassigned to the
144th Air Transport Squadron, (ANG) in Anchorage, Alaska. The 144th had been the 144th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, operating (in 1955) F-80s, which they turned in for the F-86s until the mission was changed from Fighter Interceptor to Airlift, when in 1957, the 144th turned in their F-86 aircraft for C-47s, where 790 fit the mission. She worked for the 144th for 2 years.
May 1960 found the C-47A with the
112th Tactical Fighter Squadron (ANG), in Toledo, Ohio. The 112th at this time were operating the F-84 Thunderjet and in 1960 the 112th merged with the 180th Tactical Fighter Group, flying the F-84 Thunderjet F-84F Thunderstreak and into 1971. 790 may have been used as a Support/Admin Aircraft.
January 1963 790 is under the umbrella of the
180th Tactical Fighter Group (ANG) Toledo, OhioMarch 1970 C-47A 42-93790 is dropped from USAF Inventory
After March 1970, the Air Force Logistics Command donated the C-47A. She arrived at Fort Benning’s Lawson Army Air Field, Sometime between 27 March 1970 and February 1971 she was painted olive drab and named “Boston Boomerang” a famous WWII Pathfinder C-47. Old 790 was initially parked behind McCarthy Hall until June 1975 when she was moved to Eubanks Field, near the Jump Towers.
From the records I have, I found this little bit of information
According to an article in the Bayonet dated 13 April 1984, the aircraft known as “790”at one time it was mounted with spray nozzles for spraying mosquitoes in Alaska. The Crew who flew the aircraft from Alaska to Ohio told the new Crew Chief, that she was loaned to the ISSR and spent a period of flying in that country.
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