What Cargo Plane had the most impact during WWII

[Daryl Hunt]

Here is a neat one. I give it a tie between two. The C-47 and the B-24.

The C-47 was with the Allies in all theaters hauling cargo, jeeps, troops and even towing gliders. You could even get a 105 howitzer in it if you were careful. During D-Day, it covered the skies dropping anything that could be parachuted or dropped without a chute. And it towed two gliders each full of troops. It flew over the Hump in China but it was chancy on that one since the hump was hard pressed against the C-47s max altitude. But it was used anyway.

When you stripped out the bomb racks out of the B-24, it left a lot of room for cargo. And it wasn't limited so much for altitude limitations. No, it wasn't pressurized and if you took it up so high, everyone had to be on oxygen. But the range meant it could just about fly anywhere with quite a cargo or troop load if you could get it in the door. It was used by almost all Generals for transports as well. And when you needed to get things over the Hump in China it did it great with little danger.

I think the C-47 inches the B-24 out though since it was there weeks before the US started in on WWII and was there long after WWII ended. And it could handle outsized cargo because of it's wide side cargo door.

 

[cnm]

I had an interesting experience one time when we took both side doors off (DC3) in order to expedite mass exit for freefall formations. The fuselage rapidly pressurised and depressurised all the way to altitude with altimeters showing 1000ft fluctuations. Slightly nerve wracking. We put the front door back on after that.

 

[Camp]

Hard to not give the Sky Train, Dakota, "Gooney Bird" first prize. Was still flying missions, including combat or EC missions as a gunship in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in the 70's.

 

[IsaacNewton]

The C47 by far as a cargo plane. Everyone built and flew that thing. The Japanese had bought building rights in the late 1930s and produce maybe 500-1000? The L2D. The Russians the Li-2. My favorite use of this aircraft was flying the hump to carry much needed supplies from India to China after the Japanese cut the only road through the mountains there.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

The C47 by far as a cargo plane. Everyone built and flew that thing. The Japanese had bought building rights in the late 1930s and produce maybe 500-1000? The L2D. The Russians the Li-2. My favorite use of this aircraft was flying the hump to carry much needed supplies from India to China after the Japanese cut the only road through the mountains there.

For over the Hump, the original C-47 didn't have the ceiling to operate safely but was used anyway. It lacked pressurization as well. But the C-46 had the ceiling and was pressurized. Why the C-47 went on to become the success it was and the C-46 became just a foot note in the history books is beyond me.

 

[IsaacNewton]

The C47 by far as a cargo plane. Everyone built and flew that thing. The Japanese had bought building rights in the late 1930s and produce maybe 500-1000? The L2D. The Russians the Li-2. My favorite use of this aircraft was flying the hump to carry much needed supplies from India to China after the Japanese cut the only road through the mountains there.

For over the Hump, the original C-47 didn't have the ceiling to operate safely but was used anyway. It lacked pressurization as well. But the C-46 had the ceiling and was pressurized. Why the C-47 went on to become the success it was and the C-46 became just a foot note in the history books is beyond me.

Yes there were many crashes of C-47s over The Hump. The C-46 came later in the war and though it was superior in many respects to the C-47 the US only built about a third as many as the C-47. Add in the ten thousand plus C-47s built and used by various nations in WW2 and the C-47 was the plane that actually did it.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

The C47 by far as a cargo plane. Everyone built and flew that thing. The Japanese had bought building rights in the late 1930s and produce maybe 500-1000? The L2D. The Russians the Li-2. My favorite use of this aircraft was flying the hump to carry much needed supplies from India to China after the Japanese cut the only road through the mountains there.

For over the Hump, the original C-47 didn't have the ceiling to operate safely but was used anyway. It lacked pressurization as well. But the C-46 had the ceiling and was pressurized. Why the C-47 went on to become the success it was and the C-46 became just a foot note in the history books is beyond me.

Yes there were many crashes of C-47s over The Hump. The C-46 came later in the war and though it was superior in many respects to the C-47 the US only built about a third as many as the C-47. Add in the ten thousand plus C-47s built and used by various nations in WW2 and the C-47 was the plane that actually did it.

Actually, both were introduced within a week of each other. But the C-47 was a much simpler AC. It was smaller, less power but it did have the Hamilton Standard Props and self sealing tanks were later installed.

The C-46 was pressurized but it was introduced with the Curtis Electric Props that were more than a bit problematic. There were losses due to those things. When you have your prop go to feather at the wrong time you crash. Or you have it go to zero pitch, your engine flies off the wing and you crash. This was later fixed with Hamilton Standard Props. During D-Day, they had the C-46s fly low and slow with no self sealing fuel tanks. The Germans used them for target practice and got pretty damned good at it.

The C-46 was the superior of the two but the fixes were largely ignored while the C-47 got the fixes and the good name. Hence, the C-47 went on in the inventory while the C-46 was relegated to Reeves Air who fixed the problems and is still flying them.

 

[IsaacNewton]

The C47 by far as a cargo plane. Everyone built and flew that thing. The Japanese had bought building rights in the late 1930s and produce maybe 500-1000? The L2D. The Russians the Li-2. My favorite use of this aircraft was flying the hump to carry much needed supplies from India to China after the Japanese cut the only road through the mountains there.

For over the Hump, the original C-47 didn't have the ceiling to operate safely but was used anyway. It lacked pressurization as well. But the C-46 had the ceiling and was pressurized. Why the C-47 went on to become the success it was and the C-46 became just a foot note in the history books is beyond me.

Yes there were many crashes of C-47s over The Hump. The C-46 came later in the war and though it was superior in many respects to the C-47 the US only built about a third as many as the C-47. Add in the ten thousand plus C-47s built and used by various nations in WW2 and the C-47 was the plane that actually did it.

Actually, both were introduced within a week of each other. But the C-47 was a much simpler AC. It was smaller, less power but it did have the Hamilton Standard Props and self sealing tanks were later installed.

The C-46 was pressurized but it was introduced with the Curtis Electric Props that were more than a bit problematic. There were losses due to those things. When you have your prop go to feather at the wrong time you crash. Or you have it go to zero pitch, your engine flies off the wing and you crash. This was later fixed with Hamilton Standard Props. During D-Day, they had the C-46s fly low and slow with no self sealing fuel tanks. The Germans used them for target practice and got pretty damned good at it.

The C-46 was the superior of the two but the fixes were largely ignored while the C-47 got the fixes and the good name. Hence, the C-47 went on in the inventory while the C-46 was relegated to Reeves Air who fixed the problems and is still flying them.

The teething problems for the C46 relegated it to scant production early on while the C47, which is the DC3 that was introduced in 1935 and was modified for military use had a proven track record and as you say it was much easier to maintain. The US had this view of most things, the Sherman tank was a middle of the road tank and no world beater that was easy pray for the German heavy tanks but the US just massed produced them. America didn't come out with a large tank until later war. The C47 was the workhorse for most of the war. I love these old planes.

 

[longknife]

It's hard to believe that some are still in service, flying passengers and cargo.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

The C47 by far as a cargo plane. Everyone built and flew that thing. The Japanese had bought building rights in the late 1930s and produce maybe 500-1000? The L2D. The Russians the Li-2. My favorite use of this aircraft was flying the hump to carry much needed supplies from India to China after the Japanese cut the only road through the mountains there.

For over the Hump, the original C-47 didn't have the ceiling to operate safely but was used anyway. It lacked pressurization as well. But the C-46 had the ceiling and was pressurized. Why the C-47 went on to become the success it was and the C-46 became just a foot note in the history books is beyond me.

Yes there were many crashes of C-47s over The Hump. The C-46 came later in the war and though it was superior in many respects to the C-47 the US only built about a third as many as the C-47. Add in the ten thousand plus C-47s built and used by various nations in WW2 and the C-47 was the plane that actually did it.

Actually, both were introduced within a week of each other. But the C-47 was a much simpler AC. It was smaller, less power but it did have the Hamilton Standard Props and self sealing tanks were later installed.

The C-46 was pressurized but it was introduced with the Curtis Electric Props that were more than a bit problematic. There were losses due to those things. When you have your prop go to feather at the wrong time you crash. Or you have it go to zero pitch, your engine flies off the wing and you crash. This was later fixed with Hamilton Standard Props. During D-Day, they had the C-46s fly low and slow with no self sealing fuel tanks. The Germans used them for target practice and got pretty damned good at it.

The C-46 was the superior of the two but the fixes were largely ignored while the C-47 got the fixes and the good name. Hence, the C-47 went on in the inventory while the C-46 was relegated to Reeves Air who fixed the problems and is still flying them.

The teething problems for the C46 relegated it to scant production early on while the C47, which is the DC3 that was introduced in 1935 and was modified for military use had a proven track record and as you say it was much easier to maintain. The US had this view of most things, the Sherman tank was a middle of the road tank and no world beater that was easy pray for the German heavy tanks but the US just massed produced them. America didn't come out with a large tank until later war. The C47 was the workhorse for most of the war. I love these old planes.

The C-47 was accepted by the AAF in November of 1941 the last week. The C-46 was accepted on the second week of December of 1941 for the AAF. But the C-47 was already a proven Civilian Ship dating back to 1935 and had the bugs ironed out for the most part. The C-46 was brand new in November of 1941 and never really had the chance to get rid of the bugs when it was pressed into service. By the time the C-46 was 4 years in service, it was very much superior to the C-47 in all areas but it had already "Earned" the early name of the "Flying Coffin".

The other problem with the C-46 was that in 1942, the C-54 entered service. It took over the duties that the C-46 was doing. The C-54 flew higher, faster and further with much more cargo or troops. The C-47 continued to operate because the C-47 cost so little to operate in comparison. Before the wars end, the C-47 was also able to be pressurized and that raised it's ceiling as well. Plus, they added a two speed supercharger to the engine raising it's ceiling. By the time the C-47 was released back to the Civilian market, the Airlines were no longer interested in it as an Airliner since there were plenty of surplus C-54s (DC-4) but it was picked up for a song for cargo.

 

[HenryBHough]

Reeves did operate C-46s but went out of business some years ago.

I rather suspect that their C-46s went to Evert's Air Cargo elsewhere in Alaska. At one point they had two but only one is regularly seen these days:

 

[Daryl Hunt]

Reeves did operate C-46s but went out of business some years ago.

I rather suspect that their C-46s went to Evert's Air Cargo elsewhere in Alaska. At one point they had two but only one is regularly seen these days:

View attachment 184487 View attachment 184488

It's been one or two days since I was around Reeves air. More like more than 40 almost 50 years.

 

[Selivan]

The Second World War ended long ago.
The victory in this war belongs to the Soviet Union.
-------------------------------------------
Is the American "playing in airplanes"?
The largest cargo plane in the world is the Soviet AN-225
Produced in the Ukrainian SSR in 1988

 

[Daryl Hunt]

The Second World War ended long ago.
The victory in this war belongs to the Soviet Union.
-------------------------------------------
Is the American "playing in airplanes"?
The largest cargo plane in the world is the Soviet AN-225
Produced in the Ukrainian SSR in 1988

You seem to overlook the 461 tanks that the Brits sent your countrymen in 1941. Plus the numerous Hurricanes and Spitfires in 1941 and 1942. The defense of Moscow would not have been possible without that equipment.

You seem to overlook the over 14,000 US Aircraft given to the Soviet Union starting in 1941, over 44,000 jeeps, over 375,000 cargo trucks, over 1.5 million blankets, over 300,000 gallons of alcohol, over 15 million pairs of boots, over 106 tons of cotton, over 2.6 million tons of petro products, and over 4.4 million tons of food under the lend lease program. Russia has recently paid for the bill it aquired during the lend lease program after 1993. The Soviet Union never had any intention of repaying it or even acknowledging it. Without all this, Moscow would have fallen since the Soviet Union had yet to get it's manufacturing working in the east.

Now, I don't wish to take the thunder away from the brave people that paid for it in their blood and suffering but without the tools from Canada, Britain and the US, the Soviet Union would have fallen by early 1942 or been reduced to a smaller country east of the Urals that Japan might have gobbled up at it's leazure. I already know you still think that the Soviet Union should never have fallen. But it did. And I am quite aware you are very proud of Putin trying to bring it back. Not to worry, the new "Russia" is headed to the same boneyard that the old Soviet Union ended up in. I wonder what the next Russia 2.0 will be like?

 

[Geaux4it]

C-87

-Geaux

The Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express was a transport derivative of the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber built during World War II for the United States Army Air Forces. A total of 287 C-87s were built alongside the B-24 at the Consolidated Aircraft plant in Fort Worth, Texas. The plant also developed and delivered a USAAF flight engineer trainer designated as the AT-22, a United States Navy VIP transport designated as the RY, and a Royal Air Force VIP transport designated as the Liberator C.IX. The last development was a Navy contracted, single tail version with an extended fuselage. Built in San Diego, its USN designation was RY-3.

 

[Selivan]

You seem...

1. Do not write the nonsense you take from American sites, my old American friend ...

Why?
You read these figures only from American sites ....
-------------------------------------------------- ---
I repeat to you again and again ...
You should read the information from American and Russian sites, and then compare it ...

=======================================
Will we continue?

Lend-Lising ...
American assistance to the Soviet Union during the 2-1 world war ...
Information sources:
- Memoirs of Zhukov
- Soviet traitors like "Rezun" (Suvorov)
- American propaganda
- Soviet propaganda ...
--------------------------------------
Take the "simple remainder if we compare these articles"

1. American aid to the Soviet Union during the War amounted to 10 percent of the USSR's Industrial Production
2. Americans sold goods at very high prices
3. Americans sold the USSR - Jeeps, Trucks, Gasoline and Food, but did not sell Weapons, since Stalin said that American weapons are shit
4. Americans sold it only in 1943-1945 !!!! When the Red Army already broke the United Europe with German Nazism ...

=============================================
The purpose of the Americans in the Second World War?
- The Americans raised Hitler and sponsored his production
- Americans wanted to destroy the British Empire
- The Americans have never fought with an equal opponent, therefore, the Americans entered the war then ... When the USSR defeated Germany ...
- The Americans entered a war to prevent the spread of the USSR across Europe
---------------------------------------------


- The Americans fought against Japan only in sea and air battles
- Americans lost 30 thousand people in land wars with Japan
- The main "Kwantung Army" is the Army of the Imperial Japan ... 1,500,000 people were defeated by the Soviet Union ...

Learn History!

 

[Daryl Hunt]

You seem...

1. Do not write the nonsense you take from American sites, my old American friend ...

Why?
You read these figures only from American sites ....
-------------------------------------------------- ---
I repeat to you again and again ...
You should read the information from American and Russian sites, and then compare it ...

=======================================
Will we continue?

Lend-Lising ...
American assistance to the Soviet Union during the 2-1 world war ...
Information sources:
- Memoirs of Zhukov
- Soviet traitors like "Rezun" (Suvorov)
- American propaganda
- Soviet propaganda ...
--------------------------------------
Take the "simple remainder if we compare these articles"

1. American aid to the Soviet Union during the War amounted to 10 percent of the USSR's Industrial Production
2. Americans sold goods at very high prices
3. Americans sold the USSR - Jeeps, Trucks, Gasoline and Food, but did not sell Weapons, since Stalin said that American weapons are shit
4. Americans sold it only in 1943-1945 !!!! When the Red Army already broke the United Europe with German Nazism ...

=============================================
The purpose of the Americans in the Second World War?
- The Americans raised Hitler and sponsored his production
- Americans wanted to destroy the British Empire
- The Americans have never fought with an equal opponent, therefore, the Americans entered the war then ... When the USSR defeated Germany ...
- The Americans entered a war to prevent the spread of the USSR across Europe
---------------------------------------------


- The Americans fought against Japan only in sea and air battles
- Americans lost 30 thousand people in land wars with Japan
- The main "Kwantung Army" is the Army of the Imperial Japan ... 1,500,000 people were defeated by the Soviet Union ...

Learn History!

Are you aware of the large number of US Merchant Marine Ships that were lost to German U-Boats that were carrying Lend Lease weapons and supplies before November 7th, 1941? You should start your posts with "Once Upon a Time".

 

[Selivan]

Are you aware of the large number of US Merchant Marine Ships that were lost to German U-Boats that were carrying Lend Lease weapons and supplies before November 7th, 1941? You should start your posts with "Once Upon a Time".

I'm going to pay ... my American little friend ...

==============================
But, seriously ...

1. World War II killed 27 million Soviet citizens
- 9 million soldiers were killed
- the rest - the civilian population of the USSR, who were killed by the Nazi genocide ...
----------------------------------
You tell me more about "ships and underwater" German wolf packs ""
-----------------
- America has never fought with an equal opponent
- America has never fought on its territory

======================================

 

[Daryl Hunt]

Are you aware of the large number of US Merchant Marine Ships that were lost to German U-Boats that were carrying Lend Lease weapons and supplies before November 7th, 1941? You should start your posts with "Once Upon a Time".

I'm going to pay ... my American little friend ...

==============================
But, seriously ...

1. World War II killed 27 million Soviet citizens
- 9 million soldiers were killed
- the rest - the civilian population of the USSR, who were killed by the Nazi genocide ...
----------------------------------
You tell me more about "ships and underwater" German wolf packs ""
-----------------
- America has never fought with an equal opponent
- America has never fought on its territory

======================================

Hmm, war of 1812. How about the Civil War. How about when Mexico tried to invade the US. What the war of 1812 taught the US was that it did need a free standing army of at least 75,000. Before that, it wasn't authorized anything other than Navy and support Marines for the Navy. The Brits and the Americans fought until both sides decided they were just sick of fighting and both sides sued for peace. Even though the Battle of New Orleans happened it really didn't mean a thing since it happened after the peace treaty was signed. The Brits got deep enough into the US to start the White House on fire.

You talk about the 27 million or so that the Nazis directly or indirectly kill of the Soviets. But you leave out that Stalin killed somewhere between 20 and 50 million Soviets between 1937 and 1939 through a lot of different methods. Hitler was an Animal but Stalin was a monster. Stalin made the Czar look like a Girl Scout in comparison. You would have much better off keeping the Romanov family. In comparison, Lenin was no real prize either.

Almost all of the ills that have visited Russia have been self inflicted and I don't see anything changing in the future. Your Fearless Leader teeters on the brink of loosing it on a daily basis. If he didn't lie out his ass with people like you spreading his propaganda he would be in a long forgotten gulag long ago. Sp keep spreading it thick. WE choose not to believe you.

 

[cnm]

4. Americans sold it only in 1943-1945 !!!! When the Red Army already broke the United Europe with German Nazism ...

Oh. Who was filling the cargo ships before that?

The Arctic convoys of World War II were oceangoing convoys which sailed from the United Kingdom, Iceland, and North America to northern ports in the Soviet Union – primarily Arkhangelsk (Archangel) and Murmansk in Russia. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945,[1] sailing via several seas of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans, with two gaps with no sailings between July and September 1942, and March and November 1943.
https://en.wikipedia.org​