Royal Air Force Dakota IIITwo USAAF C-47A Skytrains over France, 1944British paratroops inside C-47 Dakota, 1944
List of C-47 Skytrain operators includes the country, military service, known squadrons, and related data. The Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport that was developed from the Douglas DC-3airliner. The C-47 has served with over 90 countries outside of the United States:
Mauritania Islamic Air Force – started operating one C-47 donated by France in 1960. Five additional aircraft were bought from France in the first half of the 1960s.[4] Currently operates one Basler BT-67.[3]
The RAAF impressed civil DC-3s in September 1939 at the outbreak of World War II. The first C-47s were delivered in 1942 under Lend-Lease and the first built specifically for the RAAF entered service in February 1943. RAAF had received 124 by 1945 which were used during World War II, the Korean War the Malayan Emergency and in Occupied Japan. Most were transferred to civilian government agencies in Australia and New Guinea or sold to airlines in the 1960s. 7 were transferred to Papua New Guinea Defence Force in 1973. A handful survived in RAAF service into the 1990s with the last two (A65-94 and A65-95) being retired from the Aircraft Research and Development Unit in March 1999. These two are now operated by the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society.[9]
This 1943 C-47 served as the President of Finland's official airplane in the 1970s, as Finnish Air Force DO-9.
Finland
The Finnish Air Force operated nine from 1960 to 1984. One was involved in the Finnish Air Force's deadliest crash on 3 October 1978, when the aircraft crashed soon after takeoff, killing all 15 aboard.[12]
France
The French Air Force operated Skytrains from September 1944 on, when Lend-Lease C-47Bs were delivered to the Groupe de Transport 1/15. After the war, they were the only transport aircraft in large numbers with the Junkers 52 until the late 1950s.[13]
The single operational C-47 of the Hellenic Air Force.
Greece
The Hellenic Air Force's received a total of 78 aircraft, in several batches, with 26 ex-RAF Dakota IVs received from 1947 to 1949, 16 ex-USAAF C-47s in 1947–48, 30 C-47s supplied from the US under the Mutual Assistance Program and six aircraft from Olympic Airways in 1963. They equipped the 355th and 356th Transport Squadrons.[16] These were widely used in the Greek Civil War (1946–49) in transport and bombing roles.[17] The 13th Transport Flight used C-47s in the Korean War,[18] earning a U.S. Presidential Citation.[19] The 356th sSquadron converted to the Lockheed C-130 Hercules in 1975, but 26 C-47s remained operational with 355 Squadron at the beginning of the 1980s, with aircraft gradually being phased out over time, with four aircraft remaining operational in 2000 and the last aircraft, a veteran of the Korean War, grounded in 2008.[20]
A Honduran Douglas C-47A-20-DK Skytrain aircraft (FAH 304, c/n 12962, ex-USAF 42-93089) taking off for a joint US/Honduran parachute jump during a mobilization of US exercise "Task Force Dragon/Golden Pheasant" in 1988.
Operated 19 C-47s and 8 C-53 as staff transports and ECM aircraft into the mid-1980s.[24]
Japan
Shōwa L2D3, WW2 era
On 24 February 1938, a subsidiary of Nakajima (Mitsui) purchased production rights and technical data to the DC-3 for $90,000. The aircraft was extensively redesigned to use Japanese raw materials and the Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines were replaced with Mitsubishi Kinsei 43 radial engines. Production initially lagged behind expectations until 1942. Japanese DC-3s were given the Navy designation L2D-2 (L-transport, 2-second Douglas type, D-Douglas, 2-second sub-type). L2D1 was used for imported DC-3s. The Japanese built eight subtypes in two basic configurations, as passenger transport and as cargo planes. In two years Nakajima built 71 L2D-2s before handing production over to Showa, which built 416, including 75 freighters equipped with a large side door.
Royal Moroccan Air Force – received a few DC-3s in 1961, handed over by Royal Air Maroc.[27] As of 1962, 10 C-47s were on strength.[28] Four additional aircraft were delivered by the United States around 1964.[29] At least 10 C-47s were still operational as of 1975.[30] However, they have been retired before 1985.[31]
Transporte Aéreo Militar (TAM): Between 1953 and 1998, TAM operated 33 Douglas C-47/DC-3s. The first five aircraft were purchased in the U.S. The U.S. government, through MAP donated 21 C-47s between 1962 and 1973. Chile donated 2 C-47s in 1981 and Brazil 2 C-47 in 1984.
Some were ex-RAAF C-47s received as foreign aid.[9]
Poland
Polish Air Force operated up to 17 C-47As, known as C-47 Dakota. Several were acquired in 1944–1945 from the USSR, and most bought in 1946 from US stocks. They were used until early 1960, along with Soviet-built Li-2s.[35]
LOT Polish Airlines operated nine C-47s, also known as Dakota, bought in 1946 from US stocks and used as passenger airliners (registration numbers SP-LCA to LCI). Several ex-Air Force aircraft were used as well. They were used until 1959, at least three crashed.[36]
The first Portuguese Dakota (where it was only known as the Dakota) was interned in 1944 and it remained the sole example in Portuguese service transporting military VIPs until September 1958 when additional Dakotas came from the United States. Portuguese Dakotas were used for a wide variety of roles including one aircraft (6155) used as a bomber during the Portuguese Colonial War, and two converted to spray pesticides. The Dakota was retired in 1976. One (6157) was preserved for the Museu do Ar (Air Museum).
E.I.C.P.A.C. – Esquadra de Instrução Complementar de Pilotagem de Aviões Pesados (Heavy Transport Training Squadron). Formed at B.A.2 Ota in 1960 with C-47s.
E.L.T.S. – Esquadrilha de Ligação de Transporte Sanitário (Sanitary Transport Squadron). Also based at Lisbon, had aircraft equipped for VIP and medical transport.
101 Squadron – Formed at B.A.10 – Beira (Moçambique) on 5 February 1962 with C-47s. Later transferred to Lourenço Marques as Esquadra 801.
Aeronáutica Militar (Army Military Aviation)
Esquadrilha Independente de Aviação de Caça-Secção de Transportes Aéreos (Fighter-Air Transport Section of Independent Aviation Squadron)
Soviet Air Force: The Lisunov Li-2 was a license-built DC-3, produced in Russia. Some 6000 were built between 1939 and 1952.[41] The Soviet Union also operated C-47s supplied under Lend-Lease during World War II.
The Swedish Air Force started using C-47s soon after World War II for transport purposes. A few were converted to SIGINT platforms and eavesdropped on Soviet radio communications and radar stations in the 1950s. One such aircraft was shot down by Soviet fighters in international airspace over the Baltic Sea in 1952 with all of the crew killed.[43]
A Douglas Dakota C.III of the Royal Air Force with King George VI and his daughter, the late Queen Elizabeth, still a princess at the time in 1945 on a trip to the Channel Islands
Royal Air Force: RAF Transport Command was supplied with over 1,900 Dakotas under Lend-Lease during World War II and the type was flown by at least 46 operational squadrons, plus numerous support units. The RAF flew 50 Dakota I (C-47), 9 Dakota II (C-53), 962 Dakota III (C-47A) and 896 Dakota IV (C-47B). RAF Dakotas were assigned to all theatres of operations. RAF Dakotas dropped paratroopers and equipment and towed gliders to the Normandy landings and Arnhem. Four squadrons of Dakota IVs took part in the Berlin Airlift in 1948/49. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight operates a single Dakota.
BOAC: 59 C-47s were supplied to BOAC to maintain international air links.
^World Air Forces – Countries "World Air Forces Countries". Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2021.((cite web)): CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link).
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Cooper, Tom; Grandolini, Albert (2018). Showdown in Western Sahara, Volume 1: Air Warfare over the Last African Colony, 1945-1975. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. ISBN978-1-912390-35-9.
Cooper, Tom; Grandolini, Albert; Delalande, Arnaud (2015). Libyan Air Wars, Part 1: 1973-1985. Helion & Company Publishing. ISBN978-1-909982-39-0.
Cooper, Tom; Grandolini, Albert; Fontanellaz, Adrien (2019). Showdown in Western Sahara, Volume 2: Air Warfare Over the Last African Colony, 1975-1991. Warwick, UK: Helion & Company Publishing. ISBN978-1-912866-29-8.
Cooper, Tom; Weinert, Peter; Hinz, Fabian; Lepko, Mark (2011). African MiGs, Volume 2: Madagascar to Zimbabwe. Houston: Harpia Publishing. ISBN978-0-9825539-8-5.
Hoyle, Craig (2021). "World Air Forces 2022". Flight International. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
Mylonas, Ioannis (Spring 2016). "The C-47 Dakota in the Hellenic Air Force – Part 1". Air-Britain Aeromilitaria. Vol. 42, no. 165. pp. 6–13. ISSN0262-8791.
Mylonas, Ioannis (Summer 2016). "The C-47 Dakota in the Hellenic Air Force – Part 2". Air-Britain Aeromilitaria. Vol. 42, no. 166. pp. 51–61. ISSN0262-8791.
Mylonas, Ioannis (Autumn 2016). "The C-47 Dakota in the Hellenic Air Force – Part 3". Air-Britain Aeromilitaria. Vol. 42, no. 167. pp. 100–109. ISSN0262-8791.
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