Visitors to the
Palm Springs Air Museum might see this fighter aircraft located outside on the tarmac. Near this static aircraft is a placard that reads:
C-47, DC-3, R4D, C-53 (Also known as the Skytrain, Skytrooper & Dakota
PRIME MANUFACTURER:
Douglas Aircraft Co., El Segundo & Long Beach, CA. An improved DC-3 version went into service with commercial airlines and the military in August 1936. Aircraft built for the military had more powerful engines, strengthened rear fuselages and cabin floors and large double cargo doors. Cost of each aircraft $138,000 (C-47D). During WW II, U.S. Military production totaled 10,048 by June 1945.
OPERATIONAL INFORMATION
The DC-3 was the first commercial airliner to make air travel affordable for the average American individual. The R4D was used by the Navy as a transport/cargo plane and for the personal use of very high ranking Naval officers. The C-47 was a superlative military aircraft and saw widespread use by every Allied service and nation in every theater. During WW II it became famous for carrying paratroopers and towing gliders full of soldiers and heavy equipment into battle. First use of airborne troops was in July 1943 when C-47s dropped almost 4,000 paratroopers into Sicily. In June 1944 more than 1,000 C-47s alone airlifted more than 60,000 paratroopers and their equipment into Normandy.
In Europe, the C-47 and a specialized paratroop variant, the C-53 Skytrooper, were used in vast numbers in the later stages of the war, particularly to tow gliders and drop paratroops. In the Pacific, with careful use of the island landing strips of the Pacific Ocean, C-47s were even used for ferrying soldiers serving in the Pacific theater back to the United States. C-47s in British and Commonwealth service too the name 'Dakota'. The C-47 also earned the nickname "Gooney Bird" during the European theater of operation.
ORIGIN OF THE C-47 AT PALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM
Built in Tulsa or Oklahoma City, OK, it was delivered to Great Britain (RAF) Squadron 187 on 10 March 1945. Later assignments: Belgium 29 Dec. 1949, France (French Air Force), 25 Sept 1952; the Israeli Air Force 31 April 1967 thru 1997. It was surplused in 2001 and purchased by Cascade Air. Palm Springs Air Museum acquired the aircraft from Cascade Air in October 2003.
*NOTE* I was told by volunteer staff that many planes and historical items (like this display) often move around inside the hangers and outside on the tarmac, BUT they always stay within the museum, unless they are part of a visiting exhibition. Waymarkers should keep this in mind when searching for a particular waymark that I or someone else has posted on Waymarking.com. If, by chance, you cannot locate a particular waymark within the museum, please let me know and I'll contact the staff and inquire to its whereabouts. Thanks.