Douglas C-47A Skytrain

Douglas · USA · first flew 1942 · transport aircraft

The C-47A is the standard USAAF workhorse transport of WWII, a militarised DC-3 with a reinforced floor, large port-side cargo doors, and a 24-volt electrical system — the change from the baseline C-47's 12-volt system that defines the mark.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Low-mounted, tapered
E — Engines	2 × piston, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage	Astrodome navigation blister above the fuselage aft of the cockpit, standard on military examples
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Large port-side double cargo doors — the military Skytrain feature that separates all C-47s from narrow-doored civil DC-3s
Astrodome navigation blister above the fuselage aft of the cockpit, standard on military examples
24-volt electrical system and R-1830-92 engines define the A-model, but both changes are internal — the A is externally indistinguishable from the baseline C-47 and the C-47B

Against C-47B: honestly indistinguishable in the field — the B's changes (two-stage supercharged engines, extra tankage) are internal; only serials and records separate them. Against the civil DC-3: the C-47A has large port-side double cargo doors instead of the narrow airliner door, plus an astrodome blister. Against the Li-2: the Li-2's passenger door is on the starboard side, its single-row ASh-62 nacelles are shorter and narrower, and armed examples carry a dorsal turret.

Specifications

The Douglas C-47A Skytrain has a length of 19.43 m (64 ft).
It has a wingspan of 29.11 m (96 ft).
Its maximum speed is 360 km/h (224 mph).
Typical crew: 4.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Derived from the commercial DC-3, the C-47A was the principal production variant — 5,254 built at Long Beach and Oklahoma City from 1942. It served in every theatre of WWII, dropping paratroopers on D-Day and Arnhem and supplying the Hump route. Lend-Lease deliveries reached Commonwealth and Soviet air forces.

Variants

C-47 (original, small batch), C-47A (main variant, R-1830-92 engines), C-47B (two-stage supercharger for high altitude), C-53 Skytrooper (troop carrier, no cargo door reinforcement), R4D (US Navy designation).

Where you'll see it

USAAF, RAF (as Dakota III), RCAF, RAAF, Soviet VVS, and dozens of post-war operators. Survivors fly with warbird collections worldwide; it is the most commonly airworthy WWII transport.

Related aircraft

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