Dakota DC-3 coming to MFM Show

We're delighted to announce we have a DC3 Dakota flying at the Essex HMVA Military and Flying Machines show, join us on both Saturday the 2nd and Sunday the 3rd of August to experience a rare opportunity to see this wonderful aircraft. The Douglas DC-3 “Dakota” is a fixed-wing propeller-driven airliner. Its speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Arguably, its service during World War II made it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made. The major military version was designated the C-47 Skytrain, of which more than 10,000 were produced. Many civilian DC-3s were drafted for the war effort with just over 10,000 US military DC-3’s being built. Peak production was reached in 1944, with 4,853 being delivered. The armed forces of many countries used the DC-3 and its military variants for the transport of troops, cargo, as well as wounded personnel. Thousands of surplus C-47s, previously operated by several air forces, were converted for civilian use after the war and became standard with almost all the world's airlines, remaining in front line service for many years. The ready availability of cheap, easily maintained ex-military DC3’s both large and fast by the standards of the day, jump-started the worldwide post-war air transport industry. The DC3 was vital to the success of many Allied campaigns, in particular to the Normandy D Day operation and those at Guadalcanal and in the jungles of New Guinea and Burma. Possibly its most influential role in military aviation, however, was flying "The Hump" (the high altitude military aerial supply route between the Assam Valley in north-eastern India, across northern Burma to the Yunnan province in south-western China). The expertise gained in flying this route would later be used in the Berlin Airlift, during which the C-47 played a major role. In Europe, the C-47 as well as a specialized paratrooper variant was used in vast numbers in the latter stages of the war, particularly to tow gliders and drop paratroopers. C-47s (about 2,000 of which were received under lend-lease terms) in British and Commonwealth service took the name Dakota, from the acronym "DACoTA" for Douglas Aircraft Company Transport Aircraft. The C-47 also earned the informal nickname 'Gooney Bird' in the European theatre of operations. Several C-47 variations were used in the Vietnam War by the United States Air Force, including three advanced electronic warfare variations, which sometimes were called "Electric Gooneys" A gunship variation, using three 7.62 mm miniguns, designated AC-47 "Spooky" (but often nicknamed "Puff the Magic Dragon") was also deployed.