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The Douglas C-47 is a military transport version of the commercial DC-3 airliner which flew first on 17 December 1935.
A 7500-lb. cargo load or twenty-eight troops may be accomodated.
The C-47 entered service service with the U.S.A.A.F in 1941 and became the world's most widely-used general-purpose military transport aircraft.
10,926 C-47s and its variants having been built in the U.S.A. when production termintated, licence manufacture also having been undertaken in Japan
and the U.S.S.R. A wide range of variants of the Douglas C-47 were built, including
the C-47A, HC-47A, RC-47A, VC-47A, VC-47B, C-47D, EC-47D, HC-47D, TC-47D,
VC-47D, C-47E, C-47H, EC-47H, LC-47H, SC-47H, TC-47H, C-47J, EC-47J, LC-47J, SC-47J,
R4D-1, TC-47J, VC-47J, TC-47K, YC-47F, C-53, etc.. The Douglas DC-3 / C-47 and
their variants were known under more than two dozen nicknames, wellknown nicknames were Skytrain,
Gooney Bird, Dakota and Dak. The Russian licensed copies of the DC-3 were designated Lisunov Li-2
or PS-84. Licensed copies of the DC-3 built in Japan were designated Showa L2D. |
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On 5 September 1976, the Swedish Air Force (Flygvapnet) Douglas C-47A-15-DK 79007
was photographed at Groningen-Eelde airfield in the Netherlands. The Dakota belonged to F 13 Wing
(Forsta Flygeskader F 13). Swedish military aircraft are identified by designations, consisting of a role prefix and a sequential
number: the C-47A is a Tp 79 (Transportplan). The 79007 started its carrier in World War II
as 42-92864 with the USAF. In 1945-1946, the airframe was converted at the Canadair plant into a DC-3A-456,
transferred to DNL / Norway and registered as LN-IAH with Det Norske Luftfartsselskap A/S
on 1 October 1946. On 30 April 1949, the aircraft was reregistered LN-IKH 'Nordheim' with DNL. On 1 August 1948,
DNL was merged into SAS and the LN-IKH became the 'Hallvard Viking' with the SAS. In 1957, the Douglas DC-3A
was transferred to Linjeflyg and registered SE-CFR with AB Linjeflyg on 26 September 1957. On
29 June 1960, the Dakota was delivered to F 8 Transport wing of the Swedish A.F. at
Stockholm-Barkarby and designated Tp 79. In the Swedish Air Force, the aircraft served first as 79007 '77'.
After 1980, the tailcode was changed into '797'. On 2 December 1982, after being withdrawn from active service
in the Swedish Air Force, the 79007 '797' was handed over to the Swedish Air Force Museum (Flygvapenmuseum)
located at Malmen just outside of Linköping, Sweden. (Note- somewhere along the line c/n 12712 and c/n
13647 have changed identities. The ID plate for Swedish AF 79007 indicates ex. 42-93706,
although according to documents it is 42-92864. The mix-up was probably done when both
aircraft were converted at the Canadair plant in 1945-1946 and not subsequently discovered).
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Luchtvaart déjà vu
