Douglas DC-3/C-47/R4D-6S

Douglas DC-3/C-47/R4D-6S. . Before the U.S. entered World War II, the civilian aircraft known as the CF-3 had already flown over 300 million miles in domestic service., The DC-3 was the only transport aircraft being manufactured in large quantities at the beginning of the war. The popular DC-3 was designated as the C-47 by the U.S. Army Air Forces. It was the most used allied transport during the Second World War., Around the world, the C-47 served by transporting food, fuel, ammunition, vehicles, medical supplies; evacuating wounded; dropping paratroopers; and towing more gliders than any other aircraft, time and again, it proved itself to be safe and reliable., This aircraft, S/N-17278, started out as a C-47B ordered on a USAAF 1942 wartime procurement contract at the Douglas Oklahoma City Plant. It was one of 148 U.S. C-47B’s that were diverted to the U.S. Navy and re-designated as a R4D-68. The “S” suffice identified that it was outfitted as a submarine search aircraft. It flew along the eastern U.S. Seaboard. Aircraft is on loan courtesy National Museum of the Marine Corps, Quantico, Virginia.