What was the best Cargo Plane in WWII

[Daryl Hunt]

Here is one that is almost always overlooked. The "Best" has many meanings.

One might pick the DC-3 or C-47. It was built from 1935 and production lasted for about 10 years. It got the headlines. Yet, the C-46 was far superior. Flying over the hump, the altitude required made it really tough to do with the C-47 yet the C-46 did a better job.

You may also pick the C-54/C-118 combo. The C-54 had the range to fly across the Atlantic from NY to London non stop. It had a higher load, a pressurized fuselage, higher altitude, etc.. While the C-47 pretty much went out of the US Inventory in the 70s, the C-118 went well into the 80s.

You also might pick the FW-200 that made the wolf packs so hard to contend with. I still find it unconcientable that they didn't use the P-38 to stop them since that is exactly what the P-38 was designed to do. But they didn't. So the FW-200 pretty much went almost anywhere in the Altantic it wished to go.

There are many others as well.

 

[Stryder50]

Here is one that is almost always overlooked. The "Best" has many meanings.

One might pick the DC-3 or C-47. It was built from 1935 and production lasted for about 10 years. It got the headlines. Yet, the C-46 was far superior. Flying over the hump, the altitude required made it really tough to do with the C-47 yet the C-46 did a better job.

You may also pick the C-54/C-118 combo. The C-54 had the range to fly across the Atlantic from NY to London non stop. It had a higher load, a pressurized fuselage, higher altitude, etc.. While the C-47 pretty much went out of the US Inventory in the 70s, the C-118 went well into the 80s.

You also might pick the FW-200 that made the wolf packs so hard to contend with. I still find it unconcientable that they didn't use the P-38 to stop them since that is exactly what the P-38 was designed to do. But they didn't. So the FW-200 pretty much went almost anywhere in the Altantic it wished to go.

There are many others as well.

The C-47 gets the laurel in most polls and surveys. It had the longer service record and is still a desired airframe. Also it was the main one used for paratroop dropping whereas the C-46 and C-54 not so much or at all as a paratroop carrier. The C-47 would become the first gunship application ("Puff the Magic Dragon") used in Vietnam during the 1960s+.

Douglas DC-3 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Douglas C-47 Skytrain - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Curtiss C-46 Commando - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The C-54 would become the DC-4 in commercial airliner use, later improved into the DC-6 and then DC-7. Interestingly, when it was first developed no one in the USA wanted it, but Japan did get a license to build them and did so, having some in service during WWII.

Douglas DC-4 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The FW-200 was a transport only as a ruse to slip in a bomber under the pre-war treaty limits. As more escort carriers became available the Condor lost it's usefulness in convoy raiding, though it was used to lurk at a distance doing search and shadow. Falling to Wildcats and other carrier fighters.

Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

P-38s in the ETO initially had some performance issues and were short ranged. Got longer legs later when versions built to take the drop tanks. By then the P-47 and P-51 were entering service and replaced P-38 in most squadrons. Majority of P-38s went to the Pacific/PTO where their longer range beat out the P-40 and P-39 in use.