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C-47
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troop transport, cargo, paratrooper, for towing gliders and military cargo parachute drops. The C-47 remained in front-line service with various military operators for many years.Parker 2013, pp. 13, 35, 37, 39, 45–47. It was produced in approximately triple the numbers as the larger, much heavier payload Curtiss C-46 Commando, which filled a similar role for the U.S. military. Approximately 100 countries' armed forces have operated the C-47 with over 60 variants of the aircraft produced. As with the civilian DC-3, the C-47 remains in service, over 80 years after the type's introduction. Design and development The C-47 differed from the civilian DC-3 by way of numerous modifications, including being fitted with a cargo door, hoist attach ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas AC-47 Spooky
The Douglas AC-47 ( "Puff, the Magic Dragon") was the first in a series of fixed-wing gunships developed by the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War. It was designed to provide more firepower than light and medium ground-attack aircraft in certain situations when ground forces called for close air support. Design and development The AC-47 was a United States Air Force (USAF) C-47 (the military version of the DC-3) that had been modified by mounting three 7.62 mm General Electric miniguns to fire through two rear window openings and the side cargo door, all on the left (pilot's) side of the aircraft, to provide close air support for ground troops. Other armament configurations could also be found on similar C-47-based aircraft around the world. The guns were actuated by a control on the pilot's yoke. The guns to be active for firing would be selected by an aerial gunner on a control panel on the right side of the cargo bay. Normally, two aerial gunners would be pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version of the Douglas DC-2. It is a low-wing metal monoplane with conventional landing gear, powered by two radial piston engines of . Although the DC-3s originally built for civil service had the Wright R-1820 Cyclone, later civilian DC-3s used the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engine. The DC-3 has a cruising speed of , a capacity of 21 to 32 passengers or 6,000 lbs (2,700 kg) of cargo, and a range of , and can operate from short runways. The DC-3 had many exceptional qualities compared to previous aircraft. It was fast, had a good range, was more reliable, and carried passengers in greater comfort. Before World War II, it pioneered many air travel routes. It was able to cross the continental United States from Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas XCG-17
The Douglas XCG-17 was an American assault glider, developed by the conversion of a C-47 Skytrain twin-engine transport during World War II. Although the XCG-17 was successfully tested, the requirement for such a large glider had passed, and no further examples of the type were built; one additional C-47, however, was converted in the field to glider configuration briefly during 1946 for evaluation, but was quickly reconverted to powered configuration. Design and development With the introduction of the Douglas C-54 Skymaster four-engined transport aircraft, the United States Army Air Forces, observing that conventional gliders then in service would be an inefficient use of the C-54's power and capacity, determined that a requirement existed for a new, much larger assault glider.Swanborough and Bowers 1989, p.274.Taylor 1991, p.151. It was determined that the best solution to the requirement was the conversion of the Douglas C-47 Skytrain, already in large-scale production, to m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas R4D-8
The Douglas R4D-8 (later redesignated C-117D) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3, Douglas DC-3S (Super DC-3) airliner. It was used by the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps during the Korean War and Vietnam War. Design and development 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 US Navy designation was R4D. More than 10,000 aircraft were produced in Long Beach, California, Long Beach and Santa Monica, California, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Between March 1943 and August 1945, the Oklahoma City plant produced 5,354 C-47s.Parker 2013, pp. 13, 35, 37, 39, 45-47. Super DC-3 Large numbers of DC-3s and surplus C-47s were in commercial use in the 1940s. In response to proposed changes to the Federal Aviation Regulations, Civil Air Regulations airworthiness requirements that would restrict use of these aircraft, Douglas offered a conversi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curtiss C-46 Commando
The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a low-wing, twin-engine aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurized high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company publicity. It was used primarily as a cargo aircraft during World War II, with fold-down seating for military transport and some use in delivering paratroops. Mainly deployed by the United States Army Air Forces, it also served the U.S. Navy/ Marine Corps, which called it R5C. The C-46 filled similar roles as its Douglas-built counterpart, the C-47 Skytrain, with some 3,200 C-46s produced to approximately 10,200 C-47s. After World War II, a few surplus C-46 aircraft were briefly used in their original role as passenger airliners but the glut of surplus C-47s dominated the marketplace and the C-46 was soon relegated to cargo duty. The type continued in U.S. Air Force service in a secondary role until 1968. The C-46 continues in operation as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Aircraft Company
The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and military, defense company based in Southern California. Founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr., it merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas, where it operated as a division. History 1920s The company was founded as the Douglas Company by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. on July 22, 1921, in Santa Monica, California, following dissolution of the Davis-Douglas Company. An early claim to fame was the first aerial circumnavigation, first circumnavigation of the world by air in Douglas airplanes in 1924. In 1923, the U.S. Army Air Service was interested in carrying out a mission to circumnavigate the Earth for the first time by aircraft, a program called "World Flight". Donald Douglas proposed a modified Douglas DT to meet the Army's needs. The two-place, open cockpit DT biplane torpedo bomber had previously been produced for the United States Navy, U.S. Navy.Rumerman, Judy. "The D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II (1941–1947). It was created on 20 June 1941 as successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps and is the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force, today one of the six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States. The AAF was a component of the United States Army, which on 2 March 1942 was divided functionally by executive order into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces, the United States Army Services of Supply (which in 1943 became the Army Service Forces), and the Army Air Forces. Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Army Chief of Staff. The AAF administered all parts of military aviation formerly distributed am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paratrooper
A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infantry armed with small arms and light weapons, although some paratroopers can also function as artillerymen or mechanized infantry by utilizing field guns, infantry fighting vehicles and light tanks that are often used in surprise attacks to seize strategic positions behind enemy lines such as airfields, bridges and major roads. Overview Paratroopers jump out of aircraft and use parachutes to land safely on the ground. This is one of the three types of "forced entry" strategic techniques for entering a theater (warfare), theater of war; the other two being by land and by water. Their tactical advantage of entering the battlefield from the air is that they can attack areas not directly accessible by other transport. The ability of airbo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airlift
An airlift is the organized delivery of Materiel, supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distances (such as across or off the continent or theater), whereas a tactical airlift focuses on deploying resources and material into a specific location with high precision. Depending on the situation, airlifted supplies can be delivered by a variety of means. When the destination and surrounding airspace is considered secure, the aircraft will land at an appropriate airport or airbase to have its cargo unloaded on the ground. When landing the craft or distributing the supplies to a certain area from a landing zone by surface transportation is not an option, the cargo aircraft can drop them in mid-flight using parachutes attached to the supply containers in question. When there is a broad area available where the intended receiver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capital Airlines (United States)
Capital Airlines was a United States trunk carrier, a scheduled airline serving the eastern, southern, southeastern, and midwestern United States. Capital's headquarters were located at Washington National Airport (now Reagan Washington National Airport) across the Potomac river from Washington, D.C., where crew training and aircraft overhauls were also accomplished. In the 1950s Capital was the fifth largest United States domestic carrier by passenger count (and sometimes by passenger-miles) after the Big Four air carriers ( American, United, TWA, and Eastern).'' Flight & Aircraft Engineer'', Airline Scheduled Traffic, April 8, 1960, Dorset House. Stamford Street, London, S.E.1., page 516 Capital merged with United Airlines in 1961. History Clifford Ball Airline Clifford A. Ball, a McKeesport, Pennsylvania, automobile dealer and owner of a controlling interest in Bettis Field near Pittsburgh, won airmail contract route No. 11 on March 27, 1926. In April of the followi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Transport Aircraft
A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military aircraft, military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to maintaining supply lines to forward bases that are difficult to reach by ground transport, ground or maritime transport, waterborne access, and can be used for both strategic and tactical missions. They are also often used for civilian emergency relief missions by transporting humanitarian aid. Air frames Fixed-wing Military transport aeroplanes are defined in terms of their range capability as strategic airlift or tactical airlift to reflect the needs of the land forces which they most often support. These roughly correspond to the commercial flight length distinctions: Eurocontrol defines short-haul routes as shorter than , long-haul routes as longer than and medium-haul between. The military glider is an unpowered tactical air transp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Glider
Military gliders (an offshoot of common gliders) have been used by the militaries of various countries for carrying troops ( glider infantry) and heavy equipment to a combat zone, mainly during the Second World War. These engineless aircraft were towed into the air and most of the way to their target by military transport planes, e.g., C-47 Skytrain or Dakota, or bombers relegated to secondary activities, e.g., Short Stirling. Most military gliders do not soar, although there were attempts to build military sailplanes as well, such as the DFS 228. Once released from the tow craft near the front, they were to land on any convenient open terrain close to the target, hopefully with as little damage to the cargo and crew as possible, as most landing zones (LZ) were far from ideal. The one-way nature of the missions meant that they were treated as semi-expendable leading to construction from common and inexpensive materials such as wood. Most nations seriously attempted to recover ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
