Axis C47s?
 

I've got this desk calendar that says: Now ignoring for a second the use of the comma before the word "and", I want to know...exactly which Axis airforce was using C47s?

I'm assuming they're not talking about Milo Minderbinder renting some to the Luftwaffe to cover shortages due to "maintainance backlogs" either.

Ah ha!

Luftwaffe C-47 scroll down a bit.

I am amazed...

And post war...

Link...

Treadders (doin' some Googling till it's time to go home...!)

The pic in the Luftwaffe C47 link looks suspiciously like a DC-2 - which seems to be confirmed by this Dutch site

http://www.wimparmentier.nl/produkti..._dc2.html#1354

Apparently one of a number of KLM aircraft grabbed by the Germans in 1940. A C47 it ain't, but there's a lot more info here on both DC2's and DC3's used by the Luftwaffe.

Recall reading that the Japanese made the DC3 under licence and in some quantity - 500?.

The Russians built a flock of 'em under license as the Lisunov (sp)? Li2.

You're quite right Gruntie, I just thought it was a badly drawn C-47! :p

Pigboat:

I think the Li2 had the door on the starboard side. If so, anyone know why?

Loki, I'm guessing here because I can't find either one of the couple of books I have on the DC-3.
American Airlines were the first to order an improved version of the DC-2 which they outfitted with 14 sleeping berths, calling it the DST - Douglas Sleeper Transport. This larger version of the aircraft had the door on the starboard side, for reasons I've forgotten. Somebody noticed that instead of 14 sleeper berths, the aircraft could be fitted with 21 day seats. This was the aircraft became the DC-3. That may have been the version that became the Li2. :hmm:

Courtesy of Russian Air Force contact;

During World War II, the Sovjet Union needed immediate airlift capacity which it found in the form of an already proven transport aircraft of the time, the US American Douglas DC-3 / C-47 Dakota. From 1943 onwards, no less than 700 US-built C-47 were delivered to the USSR under the lend-lease scheme.
Parallely, the Sovjet Union had acquired the patent to built a derivative of the C-47 under license. Boris Lisunov, who had stayed with the Douglas Aircraft Company for over a year, modified the DC-3 into its Sovjet counterpart. It was initially named PS-84 (PS simply standing for pasashirskii samolet i.e. passenger aircraft) and only renamed the Li-2 in 1942. It resembles the DC-3 / C-47 externally to a high degree. The use of different engines and other details such as additional windows behind the cockpit and a right hand side passenger door (also used on pre-war DC-3A in the US!) distinguish the "Russian DC-3" from its Californian parent.

Apparently as original US design had the RH side pax door and these were the plans passed to the Russians...

The Australian National Aviation Museum DC3 Aviation Museum Pic from Airliners.net

Another pic

There you go, list of all captured DC-2 by the luftwaffe and a few pictures as well, it's from the "Luftwaffe Experten Message Board".

http://p069.ezboard.com/fluftwaffeex...picID=41.topic

In addition to the Germans, the Japanese military also used the DC-3 during WW2. They built it under licence as the L2D ("Tabby" to the allies).

See for example here and here

Japanese C-47's
 

The Nakajima L2D2 [Allied code name "Tabby"] was licence built at $90,000 cost from the Douglas Co., along with two unassembled DC-3's. Quite a bargain. Mitsui was buying them on instruction from the Japanese Navy. A total of some 487 in various versions were built, some using partial wooden construction. A cargo loading door was installed on the port side. "Remodelling" precisely coincided with what Douglas was doing with the C-47. Some were captured by US Forces at war's end, ending a recognition nightmare.

So a DC3 for less than the price of a new 172...and probably cheaper to run as well :confused:

Ignoring inflation of course :ugh:

The DC3 crashed at Bamaga, Australia (VH-CXD??) has a right hand door. I suspect it came from KLM or KNILM who for some reason specified right hand doors on their DC3's and DC5's.