Author(s): Wolfgang Borgmann (Contribution by)

War/Military

The Douglas DC-3 was a twin-engine airliner that first flew in 1935 and was a pioneer during the early years of international commercial flight An elegant and robust design, the DC-3 was the definitive American airliner of the immediate pre-World War II era and was flown by many of the world's most famous airlines at the time, such as Delta, Eastern, Pan Am, United, Swissair, Air France, Cathay Pacific, KLM, and many more. During the Second World War, the DC-3 was repurposed for military transport duty as the C-47 Skytrain (also affectionally known as the "Gooney Bird"); it was also flown by England as the "Dakota," and by the Soviet Union as the Lisunov Li-2. Its wartime service cemented the aircraft's legacy as one of history's great planes.