Douglas C-47A Skytrain – Fassburg Flyer, USAF Berlin Airlift

Douglas C-47A Skytrain in the excellent markings of the USAFs “Fassburg Flyer” which took part in the Berlin Airlift. Mint and boxed first issue from 1998. Corgis first DC-3 model is now quite hard to find. Bargain price!

The Douglas DC-3 is an American fixed-wing propeller-driven aircraft whose speed and range revolutionized air transport in the 1930s and 1940s. Its lasting impact on the airline industry and World War II makes it one of the most significant transport aircraft ever made. Many DC-3s are still used in all parts of the world.

Total production of the DC-3 was 16,079. More than 400 remained in commercial service in 1998. Production was as follows:
10,655 DC-3s were built at Santa Monica, California, Long Beach, California, and Oklahoma City in both civil DC-3 (607) and military C-47 (10,048) versions. 4,937 were built under license in Russia as the Lisunov Li-2 (NATO reporting name: “Cab”). 487 Mitsubishi Kinsei-engined aircraft were built by Showa and Nakajima in Japan, as the L2D2-L2D5 Type 0 transport.
Production of DC-3s ceased in 1942, military versions were produced until the end of the war in 1945. In 1949, a larger, more powerful Super DC-3 was launched to positive reviews; however, the civilian market was flooded with second-hand C-47s, many of which were converted to passenger and cargo versions of DC-3s, and only three were built and delivered the following year. The prototype Super DC-3 served the US Navy with the designation YC-129 alongside 100 C-47s that had been upgraded to the Super DC-3 specification.