I certainly have the office with the best view in the world!!
I’ve been in the C-47, but not this time! Too many moving pieces this time!
My second flying job as a 20 yr old with a commercial, instrument, multi and 300 hours total time, was co-pilot on a DC-3 in Alaska. I made captain just before the job ended. Summer job, hauling salmon from remote western Alaska gravel strips into Anchorage and Kenai for processing. This cargo flying niche only lasted about 4 years (I did it for 3 summers). They figured out less expensive ways to handle the fish.Oddly. the C 47 is one of the short list of planes that I had hoped to fly.
Stable, easy to fly, and relatively simple. Arthur Godfrey said anyone who could fly a Piper 4 seater could learn to fly and land the C 47 in a few hours of ground school, and a few more in the air.
Since my initial training was in taildraggers, a tail wheel did not bother me.
During the war, LOU field trained pilots in the C 47, and normal landings sent them directly over our street, at low altitude.
Aside from those beautiful birds, I read years ago, that for security reasons, no aircraft was painted with the black and white invasion stripes the day before, and every plane flying had them on the day of the invasion. I suspect few had the perfect edges of the planes in your pictures!
Large control surfaces with no power assist. It is often windy in Pilot Point, Togiak, and other western AK destinations. I was a strong young man and the captain I flew mostly with was huskier than me but controlling the rudder when taxiing in a wind took every bit of leg strength we had, working together. And starting those engines was a delicate process. The cockpit side windows were handy for sucking the flies and mosquitoes out. Lots of IFR with very basic instruments. That was a fun gig.
island!