And this question......................

[Bob Wright]

I was watching an episode of Baa Baa Black Sheep, this of course of the famous Marine Squadron. And in the episode Robert Conrad, as Pappy Boyington, alludes to a "C-47."

Being Marine/Navy, wouldn't he have referred to it as an "R4D"?

Bob Wright

 

[Mobuck]

C-47 is a DC 3 with a large cargo door.

 

[Snake45]

Technically/theoretically, you are correct.

HOWEVER...

1. I have no idea how these were commonly referred to in WWII. Maybe everybody, everywhere called them C-47s. I honestly don't know.

2. Maybe it was a "Hollywood thing." Maybe the writers/producers thought the TV audience would know what a "C-47" was, but not a "R4D." (Or, even more probably, didn't know or didn't care.)

 

[blume357]

Had to look them up:

History of the DC3:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-dc-3-revolutionized-air-travel-5444300/

 

[XUSNORDIE]

Great show. Loved it as a kid.....and as stated, its Hollywood. Very easy for Vets or enthusiasts to pick apart things that the average Joe has no clue about.

I could sit here all day pick apart the original Top Gun and ending of Top Gun Maverick. Gooofy as the original is, I love watching it for sentimental reasons. But, its mostly comedy to me.....as my Wife says "Its a movie, deal with it Mr. expert"....and of course a good friend will say "It was in the script". LOL

As for the C47 thing...the military had so any variants of the aircraft modified for the same thing. Look at the UH60....most know it as the Blackhawk....some know it as a Seahawk...Hollywood would most likely refer to it as a Blackhawk so the majority will identify.

Makes you wonder about Hollywood arguing with Technical advisors/consultants when making movies...I actually heard a story about that happening during Top Gun from a well known pilot who that movie would not have happened if it were not for his book....

 

[Snake45]

Great show. Loved it as a kid.....and as stated, its Hollywood. Very easy for Vets or enthusiasts to pick apart things that the average Joe has no clue about.

I could sit here all day pick apart the original Top Gun and ending of Top Gun Maverick. Gooofy as the original is, I love watching it for sentimental reasons. But, its mostly comedy to me.....as my Wife says "Its a movie, deal with it Mr. expert"....and of course a good friend will say "It was in the script". LOL

As for the C47 thing...the military had so any variants of the aircraft modified for the same thing. Look at the UH60....most know it as the Blackhawk....some know it as a Seahawk...Hollywood would most likely refer to it as a Blackhawk so the majority will identify.

Makes you wonder about Hollywood arguing with Technical advisors/consultants when making movies...I actually heard a story about that happening during Top Gun from a well known pilot who that movie would not have happened if it were not for his book....

Back in the '80s I edited a book on the history of the DC-3/C-47. I learned a LOT of cool stuff in that book, such as how many different military designations for the thing there were. Ever hear of a C-53? Do you know what a DST is? Neither did I until I edited that book.

As to Hollywood: The Tom Cruise movie Days of Thunder has long been ridiculed as wildly inaccurate. I recently rewatched it and it's actually much worse than that. There is not a single scene, a single character, a single line of dialog, a single plot point that is not absolutely preposterous. And yet, somehow, with all that, when all is said and done, it is a good story well told, and isn't that all we really want from a movie?

 

[dweis]

Good responses. My thought is that he might have called it a C47 because The Army Airforce flew most of that genre of airplane. SO if is AA plane it is a C47 and if Navy a R4D. The C37 fleets were scattered all over the Pacific and C47 was a generic term in common use.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Yep Flew in a C-53 from Kissimmee FL to Key West.
A little story about the DST. My neighbor was a Stewarest on the DST from Houston to Chicago, Around 1948-49 she met her future husband on the flight to Chicago. He was on his way to compete in a Rodio. He must have had a big line of Texas BS to be able to take out a Stew. Also think about the cost to compete in a Rodio that far away.

Another little tidbit about American Airlines DC-3s. Unlike all of the other DC-3 the AA door was on the right side rather than the left side.
As far as the C-47---R4D it was probably a USAAF C-47/C-53 that was flying in supplies

AA DST with door on right side. The DST had 14 seats and the day version had 21 seats

C-53 Notice small door.