MANUFACTURER: Douglas Aircraft Company
MODEL: C-47 B
ARMY AIR CORPS SERIAL NUMBER: 44-76791
PROTOTYPE FIRST FLIGHT: December 23, 1941
(December 17, 1935 for DC-3 version)
CREW: Three – Pilot, Co-pilot, Navigator
Passengers: 28 Troops
POWER (TYPICAL): Two 1,200-horsepower, Pratt & Whitney R-1830 “Twin Wasp” 14-cylinder radial engines
WEIGHTS: Basic Empty Weight – 17,057 pounds, Gross Weight – 31,000 pounds
FUEL CAPACITY: 805 gallons
RANGE: 1,600 to 3,800 miles, depending on configuration
WING SPAN: 95 feet, 6 inches
LENGTH: 63 feet, 9 inches
HEIGHT: Douglas Aircraft Company
SERVICE CEILING: 24,600 feet
TYPICAL ARMAMENT: None
PAYLOAD: 6,000 pounds
NUMBER BUILT: 10,629 (including civilian DC-3 version)
SPEEDS: Maximum – 224 miles per hour
Cruising – 160 miles per hour

Lyon Air Museum’s C-47 Dakota, recently christened “Willa Dean,” has had a long and successful service life. Transferred from the USAAF to the French in May of 1945, this aircraft continued to fly for the most part unmodified, unlike so many of its contemporaries. In 1967 it again changed ownership, this time transferring to the Israelis. There, it continued service without major modification, ultimately being sold to the civilian market where it found its way to Lyon Air Museum as one of the most complete and original C-47s currently in operation. “Willa Dean” now carries the colors of the 440th Troop Carrier Group’s 97th Troop Carrier Squadron, complete with D-Day Invasion Stripes.