C-47 Ready 4 Duty Dallas/Fort Worth Wing

The DC-3 was developed to carry 21 passengers, but our R4D-6S was no mere passenger carrier. She was built as a warbird. Our R4D-6S was modified to carry depth charges on external racks mounted under the fuselage between the main landing gear. She was assigned to the U.S. Navy Atlantic Special Service Squadron and conducted airborne search radar and sonar evaluation as well as training airborne specialists and operators. "Ready 4 Duty" served in the Caribbean from Texas to Guantanamo, Cuba; in South America as far down as Rio; across the South Atlantic to Dakar; in the eastern Atlantic up to Baffin Bay and northern Newfoundland; and across the northern hemisphere to Greenland and Iceland. During operational patrols in February 1945, our R4D was one of 20 in a squadron that surprised a surfaced German U-Boat off the coast of Brazil and sank it! After the War's end, the aircraft was retained in service and assigned to Naval Headquarters Berlin. Later, it returned to the U.S. and served in an electronics warfare training role. Our R4D is now configured to demonstrate several World War II history lessons, including sub-chaser, transport, hospital, and jump aircraft. Stop by the hangar on the weekends to take a tour or click below to book a ride!

The Douglas C-47 Skytrain began as the military adaptation of the revolutionary DC-3 airliner and became one of World War II's most versatile aircraft. Built for the U.S. Army Air Forces, the C-47 carried troops and cargo, evacuated wounded personnel, towed gliders, and dropped paratroopers in operations around the world. The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps operated their own versions, designated R4D, for transport, supply, and personnel missions across vast wartime distances.

After World War II, the aircraft remained in military service for decades. In 1962, the Navy redesignated R4Ds as C-47s under the standardized U.S. military designation system. During the Vietnam War, the venerable transport assumed a new role. Modified with side-firing miniguns, the AC-47 gunship—nicknamed “Spooky”—provided sustained fire support to troops and defended bases and villages at night.

Few aircraft adapted so successfully to so many missions across so many decades.