Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
October 1942. "A long line of C-47 transport planes awaits the installation of wings at the Long Beach, California, plant of Douglas Aircraft Company. The versatile C-47 performs many important tasks for the Army. It ferries men and cargo across oceans and mountains, tows gliders and brings paratroopers and their equipment to scenes of action." Note how, as on the photo in the previous post, certain markings on the fuselage have been scratched off the negative. Photo by Alfred Palmer for the Office of War Information. View full size.
#8632 was a D-Day ship and flew members of the 508 PIR.
According to an archive of serial numbers, 18629 survived and is awaiting restoration.
I love the how the original negative had information on the nose of the aircraft redacted for OPSEC purposes. Fantastic image!
[Censor missed the placard at the back of the plane, which seems to be the same as the one at the front. - Dave]
The tail number is a partial serial number. Tail number 118625 is serial number 41-18625, the 41 being the fiscal year the contract was let. With the help of the interweb place it is possible to trace each of these aircraft. Example: 118627 (41-18627) was transferred to the USAAF on Oct 26, 1942, then to Cairo on Feb 17, 1943, and then to the 8th Air Force in England on Feb 27, 1944. It was lost (missing) on Oct 24, 1944. www.joebaugher.com is the go-to source for aircraft history and information.
It's always amazed (or baffled) me, how the wings, carrying maybe 80% of the plane's weight, can attach to those root sections with bolts and/or rivets, and not just rip off!
On film sets and in photo studios it is cool to call clothespins C-47s, for their versatility.
In another part of the plant they produced B-17s under license from Boeing.
Between the two types they produced about one aircraft per hour during the War.
They work clockwise around the room, going by tail numbers.
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5