The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota, slang: Gooney bird, is a military transport that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allied Forces during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.
Ernest Hemingway was flown on a C-47 from Cuba to Miami, en route to Washington, DC for his commendation for sinking a Germansubmarine. Although the C-47 was not known for its luxury, his hosts served him rum on the plane.
Sgt. Pete McGill trained as a paratrooper on Oahu and made several practice jumps from a C-47. Since it was practice, the aircraft flew at a higher altitude than it would during the real thing allowing McGill to float down to earth for several minutes.[1] For McGill's first mission, the US Navy built a landing strip on Tern Island, halfway between Hawaii and Midway.[2] When it was finished, the Navy brought in hundreds of C-47s, loaded a brigade of Marines (including McGill) and flew them for a parachute drop onto Midway.[3]
The attack came mid-morning and when Sgt. Hideki Fujita first saw the C-47s, he thought they were JapaneseShowa L2D3-1a's since the model was license built from the DC-3 which also served as the model for the military C-47.[4]
After the Race invaded the US in mid 1942, the C-47 was mainly used as a VIP transport as the Race controlled the skies. Race prisoners who were transported in the plane complained that it was a death trap.
*=denotes a character who was a POV for a single scene
1=denotes a character who was a POV for one volume
2=denotes a character who was a POV for two volumes
3=denotes a character who was a POV for three volumes
4=denotes a character who was a POV for four volumes
5=denotes a character who was a POV for five volumes
6=denotes a character who was a POV for six volumes
† denotes a deceased character.