How many C-47 veterans of WWII still fly?

[JDK]

Lots of nice offers!

Bear in mind of course, that as most (all?) the military C-47 / Dakota production run aircraft were built during W.W.II and all the DC-3s were pre-war - it would actually be a very rare example with no W.W.II service. Obviously many served in the military, but not in a combat zone.

It gets tricky when you start to look solely for examples in 'their own' colours, which is where the thread scores, IMHO.

There's still quite a few in civil colours because they're earning a civilian living, which is something to be pleased about too.

Many of those in military schemes that are not their own are in colours preferred by the owner or owner's national preference, or more famous than the real aircraft's more humble actual role. To that degree the schemes also serve as an interesting case study of preferences for high-profile achievement. Just a couple of thoughts.

Regards,

[jonesy]

I went to the Duxford autumn show today to photograph C-47 42-100884 / N147DC owned by Aces High. Typically the sun didn't shine when she displayed but I got a nice shot of her.


C-47 Skytrain by jonesy1275, on Flickr

If anybody has contact information for Mr. Barry Avent the owner of N59NA 'Bones' from Bennettsville, SC please pm me.

Thanks,
Neil.

Last edited by jonesy on Sat Oct 22, 2011 2:48 am, edited 1 time in total.

[N3Njeff]

Neil,
I dont know the new owner of N59NA but her history is written on the left wing. She was never USAAF, she was bought by the UK and was a DAKOTA through and through. When we stripped the paint, you could still make out the RAF roundel and crown that was on the side of the fuselage. I also still have the 1940 Shilling that I found in her tail when I spent 2 days routing trim cables.

[Pathfinder]

42-93096 was Pathfinder plane #17 on D-Day. Transferred to 440th TCG after VE Day. Surplused to Sweden, then returned to US where she flew freight. She was then painted in her 440TCG colors. Sold on Ebay to National D-Day Museum and repainted in her "combat" scheme as Plane 17. So these are her wartime colors including red tail numbers, and no nose coding. "NASCAR" invasion stripes....but whataya gonna do....?

She was flown from Texas to N.O. so was "operational" before they embalmed her to mount on the ceiling.

N3NJeff was instrumental in documenting her postwar cargo-hauling life.

[RV8er]

I'm amazed that you guys have researched the histories of these ships down to theaters, operations and missions... how do you find this info? I'd be curious to track down the wartime history of the CAF West Houston Squadron's C-60A Lodestar but have no idea on where to start. The ship in question is s/n 18-2478, aka 42-56005; the entry in "The Lockheed Twins" book by Peter Marson shows USAAF service from June '43 to June '45, then on to various postwar gigs, but there's not a bit of detail on its wartime use. I've seen mentions of "check the card" at Maxwell... I assume they're the Holy Grail for this info and how would I go about contacting them?

Sorry to divert from the C-47 topic, but this seems like a good place to ask about starting to dig into this thing...

Thanks!
John

[N3Njeff]

42-93096 was Pathfinder plane #17 on D-Day. Transferred to 440th TCG after VE Day. Surplused to Sweden, then returned to US where she flew freight. She was then painted in her 440TCG colors. Sold on Ebay to National D-Day Museum and repainted in her "combat" scheme as Plane 17. So these are her wartime colors including red tail numbers, and no nose coding. "NASCAR" invasion stripes....but whataya gonna do....?

She was flown from Texas to N.O. so was "operational" before they embalmed her to mount on the ceiling.

N3NJeff was instrumental in documenting her postwar cargo-hauling life.

Actually when she got here from sweden, she was painted in her 440th TCG...........THEN she flew freight all over the North East with her "Other" fellow 3's in their respective wartime markings.
My uncle was the DOM for the freight company and my father was airport manager and would moonlight as Co-pilot. A couple times I would ride along (prefered NOT with my father) as if I got to go with mitch, he would let me in the right seat for a while!!
When each airplane arrived in burlington, my dad already had the Military records from Maxwell and so we would start painting on the weekends.

Last edited by N3Njeff on Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Fearless Tower]

Greatest Generation Aircraft's DC-3 "Southern Cross" is a WW2-veteran C-49J and flies regularly.

The GGA guys are also restoring another C-47 that flew in Market Garden.

[N3Njeff]

Her other co-workers
N54NA
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Untitled ... rn-Airways)/Douglas-C-47A-Skytrain/1785253/&sid=b741d40ac753fff2cd0709d4f0329d81

N57NA Is Now a bassler turbo 3.
She looked like this in the mid 80's
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Allied-A ... C-3-(C-47A)/0773044/&sid=1b78563e883e9ec2edab5251fe8e0016

Now for her past look.
N58NA (Former Pathfinder hanging in the D-Day Museum
How we painted her in VT.
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Saber-Ca ... ed917f20eb

Last edited by N3Njeff on Mon Oct 17, 2011 6:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Fearless Tower]

D-Day Doll is also an Operation Overlord vet (Inland Empire Wing's C-53)

[jonesy]

D-Day Doll is also an Operation Overlord vet (Inland Empire Wing's C-53)

I've just done a search on Airliners.net of D-Day Doll and she looks great. Last time she was photographed though was 2009 so where has she been hiding since then?

[Fearless Tower]

D-Day Doll is also an Operation Overlord vet (Inland Empire Wing's C-53)

I've just done a search on Airliners.net of D-Day Doll and she looks great. Last time she was photographed though was 2009 so where has she been hiding since then?

She's based at Riverside, CA (RAL)
http://www.contrails.us/CAF_Inland_Empi ... /index.htm

[jonesy]

D-Day Doll is also an Operation Overlord vet (Inland Empire Wing's C-53)

I've just done a search on Airliners.net of D-Day Doll and she looks great. Last time she was photographed though was 2009 so where has she been hiding since then?

She's based at Riverside, CA (RAL)
http://www.contrails.us/CAF_Inland_Empi ... /index.htm

Bugger, wrong side of the country.

[Tom_W]

[/quote]

Thanks Tom. She was photographed doing its final display in the UK. Is she now going to be a museum pieve or is there plans to fly her?

Does anybody know more about N59NA 'Bones'? It looks like she resides in Bennettsville, SC with owner Mr. Barry Avent. Now I'm coming over to Charleston next month for a week long course and I'd love to do a detour. Hopefully persuade the owner to do an air to air shoot possibly.

Neil.[/quote]

Neil, she's hangared at Oshkosh for now until room can be made for her at Fantasy of Flight. The plan is to fly her so I'm told, who would pass up the opportunity to fly in a veteran of 'Neptune', 'Dragoon' and 'Market-Garden'?

Tom

[The Inspector]

RV8r,
Start with Baughers lists www.joebaugher.com then from that info, start with memorial sites for outfits the airplane is listed as having served with in baugher's site, and it's just sift. sift, sift-try a link, try another link, I've backed into sites that I couldn't get into (or even find) head on by clicking links inside links, along with a shovel to do some digging, bring dental tools for rooting out the teeny stuff.
You can also try manufacturer/model specific searches on line, I've found a link for model 18's by putting in 'LOCKHEED model 18 production lists'
Good hunting!!

[Pathfinder]

I have utilized and contributed to Joe's amazing site for several years....but a word of caution. Like any other database....

Amassing that amount of information can not be done by one individual--and certainly every single item can not be checked completely. Joe relies on contributions from his readers...sort of a wiki input...and therein is the problem.

As recently as last week I ran across a C-47 citation in his list whose history I am fully conversant about....42-100981...and the citation was completely bogus concerning its fate...."attempted landing near Ghent and hit a knocked out German tank". Nothing of the sort happened. Joe received bogus info from someone (I believe off of the AAF.com forums) and he put it up.

Joe told me he would change it over this past weekend, but the error text is still there.

This aircraft crashed near Retie, Belgium, in the hamlet of Kortijnen. The crew of 5 were killed along with four (4) of the ten Pathfinder personnel aboard. Six jumped before impact; five were POW and one evaded.

Anyway, the point is triple check your facts regardless of the resource...