Aircraft & UAVs

C-47 Skytrain

Also known as
  • Douglas C-47
  • Douglas C-47 Skytrain
  • Dakota
  • Gooney Bird
  • C-53 Skytrooper
  • AC-47 Spooky
  • C-47D Skytrain
  • R4D

The Douglas C-47 Skytrain is the military transport derivative of the DC-3 airliner, built for cargo, personnel, paratroop, glider-towing, and medical-evacuation work. Allied forces used it heavily in the Second World War, and U.S. and South Vietnamese service later included transport, reconnaissance, psychological-warfare, and AC-47 gunship missions in the Vietnam War.

C-47 Skytrain, Twin-engine military transport aircraft, Aircraft & UAVs
Image source: Wikimedia Commons C-47A Skytrain Image

Role in Conflicts

Second World War
Mobility & Logistics
Side
Allied Powers

Allied C-47s carried personnel and cargo, towed gliders, dropped paratroops, and evacuated wounded during the Second World War.

Profile / Specs

Profile

Origin
United States
Type
Twin-engine military transport aircraft
Service note
World War II and postwar service
Designed
U.S. Army Air Corps first ordered C-47s in 1940
Produced
World War II production
Number built
9,348 procured by the U.S. Army Air Corps by the end of World War II
Developed from
Douglas DC-3

Specifications

Engines
Two Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engines of 1,200 hp each
Maximum speed
232 mph
Range
1,513 miles
Payload
28 passengers, 18-22 fully equipped paratroopers, about 6,000 lb of cargo, or 18 stretchers and three medical personnel
Role
Military transport adapted from the Douglas DC-3 airliner
Crew
Three: pilot, copilot, and radio operator
Wingspan
95 ft 6 in
Length
63 ft 9 in
Airframe changes
Military DC-3 adaptation with stronger rear fuselage, large port-side cargo doors, and a reinforced cabin floor for cargo handling
Landing gear and wing layout
Twin-engine, low-wing transport with tailwheel landing gear
Postwar mission growth
Transport, Berlin Airlift service, Korean War supply and evacuation work, flare dropping, reconnaissance, psychological warfare, and gunship conversion
Transport Design Changes

The C-47 kept the DC-3's basic twin-engine, low-wing transport layout but adapted it for military cargo and airborne work. Sources emphasize the practical changes: more powerful R-1830 engines, a stronger rear fuselage, a reinforced cabin floor, and large cargo doors on the port side.

Cargo access

Large port-side cargo doors and reinforced flooring made the airliner-derived fuselage useful for freight, equipment, and casualty-evacuation loads.

Airborne work

The same airframe supported personnel transport, paratroop drops, and glider towing, with 18-22 fully equipped paratroopers listed in the Air Force museum payload note.

Conversion potential

Later mission fits used the durable transport as a reconnaissance, psychological-warfare, flare-dropping, and AC-47D gunship platform.

Variants

The C-47 family centered on militarized DC-3 transports, with service designations and later conversions reflecting cargo, troop-carrier, naval, and gunship roles.

VariantConfigurationDesignation notes
C-47Baseline military transport

The C-47 added military cargo and troop-carrier features to the DC-3 airframe for personnel, cargo, parachute, glider-towing, and casualty-evacuation missions.

Sources: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force C-47D Skytrain, National WWII Museum Douglas C-47 Skytrain

C-47AWartime transport variant

Museum examples and wartime markings document C-47A aircraft in troop-carrier and D-Day-related service.

Sources: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force C-47D Skytrain, Air Mobility Command Museum C-47A Skytrain

C-47BWartime transport variant

The National WWII Museum describes C-47B-type production and use within the broader C-47 wartime transport family.

Sources: National WWII Museum Douglas C-47 Skytrain

C-47DPostwar redesignation and service variant

The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force display aircraft is a C-47D, preserved to represent wartime C-47A service and routine postwar USAF use.

Sources: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force C-47D Skytrain

C-53 SkytrooperTroop transport derivative

Smithsonian material identifies the C-53 as a military derivative of the DC-3 alongside the C-47.

Sources: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum DC-3

R4DU.S. Navy and Marine Corps designation

Air Mobility Command Museum material and Boeing Images identify R4D as the Navy designation for C-47-family aircraft.

Sources: Air Mobility Command Museum C-47A Skytrain, Boeing Images Final C-47 Built at Douglas Long Beach Factory

DakotaBritish and Australian designation

Boeing Images identifies Dakota as the British and Australian designation for the C-47.

Sources: Boeing Images Final C-47 Built at Douglas Long Beach Factory

AC-47 SpookySide-firing gunship conversion

The AC-47 was based on the C-47 cargo aircraft and armed with side-firing 7.62 mm miniguns for Vietnam War gunship missions.

Sources: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Gunship I Spooky

Timeline

C-47 Skytrain Key Events

  1. U.S. Army Air Corps orders C-47

    The U.S. Army Air Corps ordered the first C-47s in 1940 as military transports adapted from the Douglas DC-3.

    Sources: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force C-47D Skytrain

  2. Large-scale airborne use begins

    C-47 troop-carrier operations were used over Sicily during Operation Husky before further airborne operations in Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Germany.

    Sources: National WWII Museum Douglas C-47 Skytrain

  3. Normandy airborne assault

    More than 1,000 C-47s transported U.S. paratroopers during the Normandy invasion, making the aircraft central to Allied airborne movement on D-Day.

    Sources: National WWII Museum Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Smithsonian D-Day and the Douglas C-47

  4. AC-47 combat missions begin

    The first AC-47 combat missions took place in December 1964, after C-47 airframes were converted into side-firing gunships for South Vietnam missions.

    Sources: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Gunship I Spooky

  5. Last routine USAF C-47 reaches museum

    The C-47D now displayed by the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force flew to the museum in 1975 after routine USAF service.

    Sources: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force C-47D Skytrain

Media

C-47 Skytrain Videos

C-47 Skytrain Images

C-47 Skytrain, Twin-engine military transport aircraft, Aircraft & UAVs - view 1
Source: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force C-47D Skytrain
C-47 Skytrain, Twin-engine military transport aircraft, Aircraft & UAVs - view 2
Source: National Museum of the U.S. Air Force C-47D Skytrain
Related Weapon Systems
C-130 Hercules, Tactical airlift transport aircraft, Aircraft & UAVsAircraft & UAVsC-130 HerculesTactical airlift transport aircraftThe Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a U.S. tactical airlift family built by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company for rough-strip operations, oversized cargo, airdrop, and theater logistics. Direct sources document Hercules transport use from Vietnam and Desert Storm through Afghanistan, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the Mosul campaign, while the broader family includes gunship, tanker, rescue, special-operations, and electronic-warfare derivatives.
AC-130 gunship, Heavily armed fixed-wing gunship, Aircraft & UAVsAircraft & UAVsAC-130 gunshipHeavily armed fixed-wing gunshipThe AC-130 gunship is a side-firing C-130 derivative built for persistent close air support, air interdiction, armed reconnaissance, and special-operations overwatch. Modern AC-130U, AC-130W, and AC-130J aircraft pair trainable cannon armament with electro-optical/infrared sensors, fire-control systems, communications suites, and standoff precision munitions so crews can support ground forces from extended loiter or overwatch positions.
M113, Armored personnel carrier, Armored VehiclesArmored VehiclesM113Armored personnel carrierA lightweight tracked armored personnel carrier that became a long-lived family of troop, command, mortar, medical, missile, and field-conversion vehicles. Its use spans Vietnam-era ACAV combat adaptations, Desert Storm coalition service, U.S. and partner-supplied Ukrainian evacuation and mobility vehicles, Israeli remote explosive conversions in Gaza, Egyptian M113s under IED threat in Sinai, Yemen service, and captured Iraqi Army vehicles used by Islamic State.

Sources

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force C-47D SkytrainPublisher: National Museum of the United States Air Force | Note: Supports C-47 background, transport roles, procurement total, specifications, public-domain image provenance, C-47s used by Allied forces in the Second World War, and C-47s used by U.S. forces in the 1955 Vietnam War. | Accessed: 2026-07-13National WWII Museum Douglas C-47 SkytrainPublisher: The National WWII Museum | Note: Supports C-47 military airframe changes plus Allied use in the Second World War for airborne drops, theater cargo service, and China-Burma-India airlift missions. | Accessed: 2026-07-13National Museum of the U.S. Air Force Gunship I SpookyPublisher: National Museum of the United States Air Force | Note: Supports C-47-derived AC-47 gunships used by U.S. forces in the 1955 Vietnam War, including South Vietnam combat missions for local defense, convoy escort, and close air support. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Air Mobility Command Museum C-47A SkytrainPublisher: Air Mobility Command Museum | Note: Supports C-47A use by Allied forces in the Second World War, including D-Day troop-carrier service and related wartime transport missions. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Smithsonian D-Day and the Douglas C-47Publisher: National Air and Space Museum | Note: Supports C-47 use in the Normandy airborne assault and broader Allied Second World War airlift context. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum DC-3Publisher: National Air and Space Museum | Note: Supports Douglas DC-3 manufacture, first flight, and C-47/C-53 military derivative context. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Tinker History Douglas C-47 SkytrainPublisher: Tinker Air Force Base | Note: Supports C-47 airframe configuration, Oklahoma City production, crew-count caveat, in-service dates, mission breadth, and AC-47D Spooky gunship conversion context. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Boeing Images Final C-47 Built at Douglas Long Beach FactoryPublisher: Boeing Images | Note: Supports Long Beach production context, R4D and Dakota designation notes, Allied service breadth, and postwar Berlin Airlift, Korean War, and Vietnam War background. | Accessed: 2026-07-13Wikimedia Commons C-47A Skytrain ImagePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports public-domain image provenance for the C-47 image. | Accessed: 2026-07-13National Museum of the U.S. Air Force C-47D Gallery ImagePublisher: National Museum of the United States Air Force | Note: Supports public-domain image provenance for the C-47D Skytrain gallery image. | Accessed: 2026-07-13National Museum of the U.S. Air Force C-47D and Waco Glider ImagePublisher: National Museum of the United States Air Force | Note: Supports public-domain image provenance for the C-47D Skytrain and Waco CG-4A gallery image. | Accessed: 2026-07-13