Battle of Britain Memorial Flight C-47 Dakota flying at Shuttleworth in October 2015
The Douglas C-47 Dakota became one of the world's most famous military transport aircraft & saw widespread use by the Allies during World War 2 & then by Air Forces & civilian operators worldwide. The C-47 is a military version of the DC-3 airliner, which first flew in 1935 & was used extensively by US airlines. The US Army Air Command specified a number of changes to suit the aircraft for military use: more powerful engines, utility seats along the walls, a stronger floor & large loading doors. Deliveries of the military DC-3, designated C-47 ‘Skytrain’ in the United States, began in October 1941. When production finally ended, a remarkable 10,692 DC-3/C-47 aircraft had been built. Large scale deliveries of C-47s were made to the UK, with nearly 2,000 Dakotas, as the aircraft was known in the RAF, being delivered, the first entering RAF service in India in 1942. Large numbers of Dakota IIIs revitalised the RAF’s transport capacity, which had been based on obsolete bombers & general purpose aircraft. The Dakota III eventually equipped twenty two RAF squadrons & three RCAF squadrons Douglas C-47 Dakota Mk III, ‘Kwicherbichen’ FZ692, was built by Douglas in the United States in 1943 and was delivered to the RAF in February 1944. The aircraft served with 233 Squadron at RAF Blakehill Farm until September 1944 when it was transferred to 437 Squadron RCAF. FZ692 was painted olive drab green all over and shortly before D-Day had the black and white ‘invasion stripes’ added for identification purposes. The stripes on the rear fuselage covered the ‘5T-UK’ squadron code letters so the aircraft’s individual letters ‘UK’ were transcribed onto the nose. (T individual letters ‘UK’ were transcribed onto the nose. (This is not, therefore, an indication of nationality!) FZ692 was named ‘Kwicherbichen’ & this was painted on the port side of the nose under the cockpit FZ692 survived the war & is still flying with Environment Canada wearing the civilian registration C-GRSB
Size: 4928px × 3942px
Location: Old Warden Bedfordshire UK
Photo credit: © Niall Ferguson / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -47, -day, -grsb, aircraft, arnhem, battle, britain, dakota, flight, fz692, kwicherbichen, memorial, military, raf, skytrain, transport
