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Military C-47s/C-117s
Prior to the expulsion of NATO forces in June 1971, quite a number of military C-47s visited RAF Luqa, the overwhelming majority (at least as far as the late sixties are concerned) being from the US military.
This is, by no means, a complete list. It’s been compiled from past editions of the Luqa Air Movements & Take-Off, published by the Malta Aviation Society and photographs and serials which have appeared in such publications such as Malta Flypast published by the Malta Aviation Museum. I am also grateful to Godfrey Mangion who assisted me in my research by allowing me to examine his log book and take notes.
The aircraft have been listed in alphabetical order according to country.
Variants
Having flown on 17 December 1935, and having practically cornered the civilian air traffic market of the time, the DC-3 was just about the only medium sized aircraft available and in production.
For military use, the single passenger door was replaced by a two-door side-ways opening system, to allow the carriage of bulky items. The table below describes only the aircraft listed on this page. Additional variants under the C-117 heading further down.
C-47A – DC-3A-456 with a 24-volt electrical system and hot-air heating.
C-47B – DC3-A-467 with cabin fuel tanks, engine superchargers and hot air heating. The supercharged engines were needed to allow aircraft to fly at higher altitude over the eastern end of the Himalayas (nicknamed “The Hump” by pilots) between India and China, to resupply both the Chinese war effort of Chiang Kai-shek and US Army Air Force units based in China at the time.
C-47D – C-47B with engine superchargers removed after wartime.
VC-47D – C-47D fitted with a VIP interior.
C-53-DO – DC-3A-405 for the transport of 28 troops, 26” left-hand door and 12-volt system.
Construction number (c/n)
A means of tracing an aircraft’s history is to look up its construction number (c/n). Unfortunately, due to wartime pressure, and the fact that C-47s were being built in two plants in California and Oklahoma, two batches of aircraft from each plant were given the same c/n. This error was later corrected, and this explains why some C-47s carry two c/n’s, the second number being the correct one.
Additional information about c/n under the C-117 heading further down.
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France
| TYPE | OPERATOR | SERIAL | C/N | HISTORY | NOTES | | C-47B | Navy | 48406/06 | 25667 | | January 1971. | | C-47A | Navy | 23 | 13321 | | 05-08 January 1971. | | C-47A | Navy | 13835/35 | 13835 | | Visited Luqa during Jan., Feb., May and Dec. 1971. | | C-47A | Navy | 12471/71 | 12471 | | 22 February 1971. | | C-47A | Navy | 0-18984 | 18984 | | 17 June 1969. |
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Greece
| TYPE | OPERATOR | SERIAL | C/N | HISTORY | NOTES | | | Air Force | 92621 | | | 23 August 1971. | | | Air Force | 92630 | | | 02 & 26 April 1971. | | | Air Force | 92634 | | | 04 January 1971. | | C-47B | Air Force | 349111 | 26372 | | 12 April 1971. |
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Italy
| TYPE | OPERATOR | SERIAL | C/N | HISTORY | NOTES | | C-47A | Air Force | MM61775/SM-09 | 19016 | | 01 Aug. 1968 | | C-47B | Air Force | MM61815/SM-11 | 26800 | | Badge of Knights of Malta covering fuselage roundel. 5 Aug. 1963. | | C-53-DO | Air Force | MM61818/SM-14 | 7397 | | C-53 Badge of Knights of Malta covering fuselage roundel. 5 Aug. 1963. Again seen on 16 Oct. 1967 | | C-47-DL | Air Force | MM61894/SM-15 | 4261 | | Badge of Knights of Malta covering fuselage roundel. 5 Aug. 1963. | | | Air Force | MM61832/SM-16 | | | Seen during Jan. June, July, Oct. & Dec. 1972. | | C-47A | Air Force | MM61778/SP-11 | 18964 | | June, Dec. 1967 (reportedly made a “very rough landing”), Aug 68. | | C-47B | Air Force | MM61815/SP-14 | 26800 | | 16 March 71 | | C-53D-DO | Air Force | MM61765/SP-20 | 11681 | | 22 June 1971. |
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Libya
| TYPE | OPERATOR | SERIAL | C/N | HISTORY | NOTES | | C-47B | Air Force | 0-49217 | 26478 | | 30 Oct. 1968. Again at Luqa 16-18 Jan 1972 as 43-49217. |
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Turkey
| TYPE | OPERATOR | SERIAL | C/N | HISTORY | NOTES | | | Air Force | CBK-04 | | | 1962 |
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United Kingdom
| TYPE |
OPERATOR |
SERIAL |
C/N |
HISTORY |
NOTES |
| C-47B |
MC-TTS * |
KN452 |
16175/ 32923 |
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* Malta Communications & Target-Towing Squadron, based at RAF Ta’ Qali, Nov. 60 – Jan 61. This aircraft would again be seen in Malta with the civilian registration of N62303, for servicing at MIACO between 1976-77. |
| C-47B |
Malta CF |
KN647 |
16590/33338 |
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Aircraft flew into high ground at night on 21 June 1954 near Nairobi, Kenya. |
| C-47A |
Battle of Britain Memorial Flight |
ZA947 |
10200 |
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Attended the Malta Int’l air show between 23 – 28 September 2011. See notes below for additional information about this aircraft. |
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The a/c had an accident when still with the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough in around 1990 when the Navigator (the RAF used navigators in the right hand seat I believe) accidently retracted the landing gear on the ground with engines running. The port engine prop hit the ground taking with it the reduction gear box, smashed into the fuselage (hence the alclad plate where the nose exit used to be) and wrote off the port wing. Air Atlantique were given the contract to repair and carry out an overhaul of the aircraft. A wing was obtained from a derelict dak in Malta with MIACO (the company Air Atlantique had just acquired which specialised in P&W R1830 overhaul) and brought to UK. The wing was very rough with corrosion and we reskinned much of it together with lots of new angles, ribs etc..it was then taken to Farnborough and fitted to ZA947 together with a new engine and prop. The a/c was then ferry flown to Coventry where we did the actual a/c servicing. This aircraft is now flying with the Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight in D Day markings. (http://www.douglasdc3.com/dc3brit/dc3brit.htm)
This C-47 Dakota was manufactured in the USA by Douglas in March 1942 and initially issued to the United States Army Air Force. In September that year the aircraft was transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and served in Canada during World War Two. It was subsequently deployed to Europe with the RCAF until declared surplus to requirements by the Canadians in 1971.
The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough then purchased the aircraft, which was allocated the UK military serial number KG661, as it had carried the serial ‘661’ with the Canadians. During her time with the RAE, the Dakota was used for a variety of tasks and trials, including dropping sonabuoys through holes cut in the fuselage and for launching remotely piloted vehicles. Cleared for dropping paratroops, she often displayed in this role and occasionally appeared in the static park at air shows. For some time, however, there had been doubt about the allocated serial number. Research showed that the serial ‘KG661’ had previously belonged to a Dakota that had been destroyed in an accident. So the serial number was changed to a new one - ZA947. In 1992 the Defence Research Agency, the successor to the RAE, declared ZA947 surplus to requirements.
The aircraft was adopted by Strike Command and issued to the BBMF in March 1993. In 2004, an original and authentic floor and interior was re-fitted to the Dakota, returning the cabin to the original, wartime specification. As there are now no other multi-engine tail wheel aircraft in RAF service outside the BBMF, the Dakota is an important training asset used for initial training of aircrew for the BBMF multi-engine aircraft and for renewing the currency of the Flight’s Lancaster pilots each year. In addition to this role though, the Dakota is a sought-after display aircraft in her own right and, as such, she appears regularly on the air show circuit either on her own or as part of a BBMF formation. She continues to be capable of para-dropping and is used in that role for special commemorative events.
During the winter of 2010/11, ZA947 underwent a major servicing conducted by ARCo with sub-contractor Eastern Airways at Humberside Airport. It emerged re-painted as 233 Squadron Dakota III, FZ692, ‘5T-UK’, named ‘Kwicherbichen’, complete with D-Day stripes.
In July 1944, FZ692 "Kwicherbichen" was photographed returning to its base at RAF Blakehill Farm, Wiltshire carrying wounded from the Normandy battlefront. (http://www.raf.mod.uk/bbmf/theaircrAir Forcet/dakota.cfm)
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United States
| TYPE | OPERATOR | SERIAL | C/N | HISTORY | NOTES | | C-47D | Air Force | 0-48805 | 26066 | | June & Nov 1968. | | VC-47D | Air Fcorce | 0-49369 | 26630 | | Carried “United States of America” on fuselage in Aug 1968, Jan/Feb 1970. | | VC-47D | Air Force | 0-49185 | 26446 | | Apr 1967. | | C-47B | Air Force | 0-76657 | 32989 | | 14 Jun 1968. | | VC-47D | Air Force | 0-77226 | 33558 | | Jan. 1971. | | C-47D | Air Force | 477275 | 33607 | | 1 May 1968. |
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United States - Navy
| TYPE | SERIAL | C/N | HISTORY | NOTES | | VC-47J | 50799 | 26613 | | Carried US flag on fuselage and wings on 26 Jan. 1968. | | VC-47J | 50828 | 26963 | | NAS Naples |
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C-117
C-117 – C-47B fitted with 21-seats and integral stairs. Easily identifiable by their taller, more rectangular fin.
R4D-5 – US Navy designation for C-47A-DL transferred from a USAAIR FORCE order.
Construction number (c/n)
Like some C-47s, these C-117s also carry a double c/n. After the war, 100 examples were converted to C-117 standard and known as R4D-8 and assigned a new construction number. In this case, both numbers are correct.
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| SERIAL | C/N | HISTORY | NOTES | | 12437 | 9620/43393 | | Based at NAS Naples, noted between Jan/Feb 70. | | 12439 | 9672/43328 | | Based at NAS Sigonella, noted between Jan/Feb 70, Jan-Mar 1971. | | 17098 | 11848/43340 | | 22 Nov. 1963. | | 17108 | 11948/43369 | | Based at NAS Naples, noted between Jan, Apr. & May 71. | | 17116 | 12028/43307 | | Based at NAS Naples, Apr. 1967. | | 17119 | 12058/43378 | | |
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