TYPE: Transport, Troop carrier

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of four plus 29 troops

POWER PLANT: Two Pratt & Whitney R-1830-90 Twin Wasp radial engines, rated at 1,200 hp each

PERFORMANCE: 224 mph at 10,000 ft

COMMENT: The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) was a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during WW II and remained in front-line service with various military operators for many years.
The C-47 differed from the civilian DC-3 by way of numerous modifications, including being fitted with a cargo door, hoist attachment and strengthened floor – along with a shortened tail cone for glider-towing shackles, and an astrodome in the cabin roof.
During World War II, the armed forces of many countries used the C-47 and modified DC-3s for the transport of troops, cargo, and wounded. The U.S. naval designation was Douglas R4D. About 10,174 aircraft were produced in four US factories.
The specialized C-53 Skytrooper troop transport started production in October 1941 at Douglas Aircraft’s Santa Monica plant. It lacked the cargo door, hoist attachment, and reinforced floor of the C-47. Only 380 aircraft were produced in all because the C-47 was found to be more versatile.
The C-47 was vital to the success of many Allied campaigns, in particular, those at Guadalcanal and in the jungles of New Guinea and Burma, where the C-47 and its naval version, the R4D, made it possible for Allied troops to counter the mobility of the light-traveling Japanese Army. Possibly its most influential role in military aviation, however, was flying “The Hump” from India into China. The expertise gained flying “The Hump” was later used in the Berlin Lift, in which the C-47 played a major role until the aircraft were replaced by Douglas C-54 Skymasters.
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. During the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, C-47s dropped 4,381 Allied paratroops. More than 50,000 paratroops were dropped by C-47s during the first few days of the D-Day campaign also known as the Invasion of Normandy, France, in June 1944. In the Pacific War, with careful use of the island landing strips of the Pacific Ocean, C-47s were used for ferrying soldiers serving in the Pacific theater back to the United States.
About 2,000 C-47s (received under Lend-Lease) in British and Commonwealth service took the name „Dakota“, possibly inspired by the acronym “DACoTA” for Douglas Aircraft Company Transport Aircraft.
The C-47 also earned the informal nickname “gooney bird” in the European theatre of operations. Other sources attribute this name to the first aircraft, a USMC R2D—the military version of the DC-2—being the first aircraft to land on Midway Island, previously home to the long-winged albatross known as the gooney bird which was native to Midway
After World War II, thousands of surplus C-47s were converted to civilian airline use, some remaining in operation in 2012, as well as being used as private aircraft (Ref.: 24).

TYPE: Personnel and cargo transport

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of four plus troops or freight

POWER PLANT: Four Wright R-3350-35 “Duplex-Cyclone” radial engines, rated at 2,200 hp each

PERFORMANCE: 330 mph at 10,000 ft

COMMENT: Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States entering WWII, the assembly lines at the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation were taken over by the American government for the war effort. Along with the assembly lines, the Lockheed L-049 “Constellation” airliner was also requisitioned and designated C-69 and was to be used as a cargo and personnel transport by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).
Due to the direction the war was heading during summer 1942, the need for a large troop transport capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean o Pacific Ocean (by flying from island to island) became more important. This would help avoid the risks the convoys in the Atlantic were facing due to U-Boat attacks.
The Douglas C-54 “Skymaster” planned for these roles was not completely capable. So on September 1942, the American War Department signed contract with Lockheed for nine L-049 aircraft under construction for TWA. Soon after 150 more C-69A and C-69B aircraft were ordered along with C-69C and C-69D VIP transport versions. In reality, only one C-69C was produced out of all these planned variants.
Around the same time the prototype XC-69 was completed and rolled out in December 1942. The aircraft was painted in olive green and grey camouflage colors and the civilian registration. However, problems developed with the aircraft’s powerplant, the Wright R-3350 “Duples Cyclone”. A consideration to replace the R-3350 engines with Pratt & Whitney R-2800 had been taken up.
On July 1943, the XC-69 was symbolically handed over to the USAAF and later that same day, the XC-69 returned to Lockheed for further testing. It is worth mentioning that the C-69 was able to attain a higher maximum speed than the Mitsubishi A6M “Zero” fighter.
Major problems, however, surfaced with the Wright R-3350 powerplant that powered the C-69 and  finally the USAAF ceased production of the R-3350 until the troubles that plagued the engines were solved. This caused the development of the C-69 to slow down and furthermore, the C-69 was not declared a priority. Lockheed continued to focus on building combat aircraft while the Douglas C-54 “Skymaster”, the C-69’s competitor was already flying and officially ordered.
Unfortunately for Lockheed, the C-69 became less important to the war effort as time progressed, especially since the tide of the war had turned in favor of the Allies. Only a small number of C-69 aircraft would see service in the last year of the war. Even so, Lockheed was able to conduct tests at the expense of the government to solve problems with the aircraft’s design. Although the problems with the R-3350 were being solved, the B-29 had priority for the engines over the C-69. Even with all the effort put forth by Lockheed, the USAAF favored the C-54 “Skymaster” over the C-69. At the end of the war, only 22 Lockheed C-69s “Constellations” were produced, seven of which were never delivered (Ref.: 24).

TYPE: Supply, troop- and personnel transport.

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of three plus 18 passengers

POWER PLANT: Two Wright R-1820-87 Cyclone 9 radial engines, rated at 1,200 hp each

PERFORMANCE: 266 mph at 17,150 ft

COMMENT: When the United States started to build up its military air strength in 1940–41, the need for transport aircraft became obvious. Besides the well-known Douglas C-47 Skytrain, derived from the civilian DC-3, Lockheed Model 18 Super Electra was chosen by the United States Army Air Force as military transport. The aircraft started its career as C-56 and C-57 Lodestar, but only a few examples were built. A redesign of the original was more successful: As Lockheed C-60A Lodestar the transport was in widespread use in all military campaigns. But it never reached the popularity of the C-47 Skytrain. The Lodestar was also in use with the US Navy as R5O-5 and US Marine Corps as R5O-6. A total of 625 Lodestars of all variants were built (Ref.: 23).