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Alan K | all galleries >> Western Australia >> 2013 Day 01: Perth and Bull Creek, Western Australia (Sat 03 Aug 2013) > 130803_133604_30346 Welcome Aboard. Douglas C-47B Dakota (Sat 03 Aug 13)
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03-Aug-2013 AKMC

130803_133604_30346 Welcome Aboard. Douglas C-47B Dakota (Sat 03 Aug 13)

RAAF Association of WA Museum, Bull Creek, Western Australia

As I mentioned in image 30330, one of the big differences between the commercial DC-3 and the military C-47 was the replacement of the rear door with a cargo hatch.

You can see the latter here.

The panel to the left of it contains an entrance door, but that appears to be hinged itself, making for a large capacity hatch.

The DC-3 did not return to being a passenger hit after the war. It had been overtaken by larger, faster aircraft like the DC-4, and of course jets were not far off. However the C-47 was still extremely useful to shift cargo, or even passengers in some cases, to places that larger, heavier aircraft could not safely get to. Rough airstrips do not a C-47 faze.

There is an old song called "The Gooney Bird" (an affectionate nickname for the DC-3/C-47), one verse and the chorus of which is:
"Douglas built this ship to last, but nobody expected
This crazy heap would fly and fly no matter how they wrecked it.
While nations fall and men retire and jets get obsolete,
The Gooney Bird flies on and on at 11,000 feet.

They patch her up with masking tape,
With paper clips and strings
And still she flies; she never dies,
Methuselah with wings."


Addendum: My personal opinion is that Facebook is a sociopathic organisation that steals other peoples' intellectual property (including the images in this gallery) despite being explicitly denied permission to do so.

Canon EOS 40D ,Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
1/60s f/8.0 at 28.0mm iso640 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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