R4d Aircraft - This post-war development of the famous Douglas twin-engined transport was meant to replace the DC-3 in both military as well as the commercial markets, but failed commercially due to the many military surplus C-47s flooding the market and the competition on
the Convair Liner series with pressurized cabins. The conversion price was between $250,000 and $300,000, while a Convair CV340 would seat 44 passengers, flew faster and would cost about usd $570,000 brand new. As a supply plane, the C-47 could carry up to 6,000 pounds of cargo.
R4d Aircraft
It could also hold a fully assembled jeep or a 37 mm cannon. As a troop transport, it carried 28 soldiers in full combat gear. As a medical airlift plane, it could accommodate 14 stretcher patients and three nurses.
Rd- / C- Skytrain
Seven basic versions were built, and the aircraft was given at least 22 designations, including the AC-47D gunship, the EC-47 electronic reconnaissance aircraft, the EC-47Q antiaircraft systems evaluation aircraft and the C-53 Skytrooper. After World War II Douglas decided to modernize the DC-3, with more power and capable of carrying a greater load.
This led to the Super DC-3, or DC-3S, which was issued an Approved Type Certificate on July 24, 1950. Douglas put Wright 1820-C9HE engines on the prototype and initial production models. The maximum speed increased from 230 mph to 270 mph, and cruising speed increased from 207 mph to 251 mph.
Although the DC-3S looked like a DC-3 (or C-47), it was much improved. The Super DC-3 had newly designed wings, an enlarged tail and landing gear doors were added. Also the nose was changed and the wings had square cut tips.
It seated up to 37 passengers and it was 60 percent a completely new airplane. The plane body is assembled on top of an International truck frame, fitted with a big diesel powerful enough to haul the rig down the highway without complaint.
Inside, there's all the basics one would expect in a homebrew conversion RV, with beds, a bathtub, and sink and all the rest. Best of all, much of the cockpit remains virtually unchanged from the original Douglas equipment, with Lucci going to great lengths to integrate the RV's systems with the plane's original control panels.
Rooftop switches control air conditioning and heating, and there's still a pilot intercom, too. The International truck's basic gauge cluster and steering all remain intact inside, too, along with a modern double-DIN head unit for in-plane entertainment.
The C-117 was based on the reliable and proven DC-3/C-47 and was originally intended for the civilian airline market. The "Super DC-3" featured a longer fuselage, redesigned tail and wings, and fully enclosed the landing gear when retracted.
In 1951, the Navy evaluated the Super DC-3 and liked the increased performance it offered and accepted the aircraft as the R4D-8. Rather than purchase new aircraft a total of 98 earlier R4Ds were converted to R4D-8 standards.
In 1962, the R4D-8 was redesignated under the joint Air Force-Navy designation system as the C-117D. Super Gooneybirds continued in U.S. Navy service into the mid-1970s. The military career of the Douglas DC series began in 1936, when the U.S.
Army Air Corps ordered a pair of DC-2 commercial transports under the designation C-32. A contract followed for 18 DC-2s in the C-33 freighter configuration and two more as C-34 staff transports. Then, in 1937, the U.S.
Army ordered a plane built to its own specifications. It was a hybrid design that combined the fuselage of the DC-2 with a DC-3 tail. This was the sole C-38 prototype, and it led to 35 production versions called the C-39.
The C-39 represented the first serious effort by the Army to establish an airlift capability. After World War II, the US Navy modified 100 R4Ds to Super DC-3 standards. The US Navy had 100 R4D-5s and R4D-6s converted to "Super Three" (R4D-8) standards, although other engines were used: Wright R-1820-80s.
This aircraft, designated the R4D-8 had more powerful engines, newly designed wings, an enlarged tail and added landing gear doors. The name "Skytrain II" didn't stick much, "Super DC-3" or "Super Three" did. The R4D-8 was designated the C-117 after 1962.
The father and son duo bought the plane in mid-2019, stripping off useful parts to support a French-based restoration of a similar aircraft. Efforts were taken to preserve as much original equipment and heritage of the aircraft as possible.
Such authentic touches are visible all over the build, from the kink in the fuselage from prior damage, to the front wheel fenders built out of the former engine nacelles. On July 12, 1976, the Navy phased out the last C-117 (Douglas DC-3), perhaps the most famous transport plane of all time.
The last C-117 was flown from Pensacola to Davis Mountain Air Force Base, Arizona, the boneyard for obsolete military aircraft. @media only screen and (min-device-width : 320px) and (max-device-width : 480px) { #ga-ad {display: none;} }
The successes of early Marine transport aircraft, especially during World War II, paved the way for what was to evolve into the modern day operational support airlift (OSA) mission. Early transports were essentially commercial aircraft, with minor modifications, that were put into military service to provide logistical support directly to the warfighter.
Mostly, these aircraft had no armament or special equipment for protection during combat. Employing them in a hostile environment emerged from a warfighting necessity because no other Marine aircraft had the required payload, range, and reliability offered by these early transports.
It's a dream project made in to reality, with Lucci finally completing the build in late 2020 after first being inspired at the young age of 12. It looks like an absolute hoot to drive, though we imagine it's probably difficult to fill up at the pump
without getting more than a few curious onlookers asking questions. Of course, that's pretty typical whether your oddball RV build is big or small. Overall, it's a great example of what can be achieved when you follow through with whatever crazy idea your heart desires.
"We wanted to keep a lot of the themes and stuff that makes the airplane, the airplane itself," explains Lucci in a video about the project. "These pieces here that we smashed our heads a couple hundred times while building it, they're actually the wing attach points on the airplane, which makes it exactly right at the max legal width in all 50 states."
Marine aircraft were first used in their OSA role during the late 1960s and early 1970s. OSA aircraft, mostly old C-117 "Hummers" once used during combat resupply missions in Southeast Asia, were attached to Marine Corps air stations (MCASs) at Cherry Point, NC;
Wash, AZ; Futenma, Okinawa; and Iwakuni, Japan. By the early 1980s newer, more modern OSA aircraft were entering the Marine Corps' fleet. In an interview with FOX 17 WXMI, Lucci shows off the interior of the building and takes it out for a drive on local roads.
It's not the quietest ride, but the experience is undeniably special. "When there's snow on the ground, because it's all white, it looks like you're above the clouds," jokes Lucci. "I guess I'm just a big kid, you can pretend."
Every branch of the U.S. military and all the major allied powers flew it. The U.S. Navy version was the R4D. The British and the Australians designated it the Dakota (a clever acronym composed of the letters DACoTA for Douglas Aircraft Company Transport Aircraft).
The aircraft operated from every continent in the world and participated in every major battle. By the end of World War II, more than 10,000 had been built. For all of its official and unofficial names, it came to be known universally as the “Gooney Bird;”
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in Europe, termed it one of the most vital pieces of military equipment used in winning the war. The donor plane for the project was a Douglas R4D, a modified DC-3 designed for Navy service.
The plane was built in 1943 before entering service in 1944, spending much of its service life in South America during World War II as an executive transport. It later went on to work for the Federal Aviation Administration flying test routes for navigational purposes.
Its last flight was in the 1980s, upon which it was laid up before later being damaged beyond repair by a tornado and parts scavengers in the intervening years. Such conversions are road-registerable as long as they're properly inspected and meet all the necessary requirements.
The Fabulous Flamingo is registered as a Class A motorhome, with the conversion likely posing few problems as it's based on an existing road-going truck frame. The plane merely counts as a rather unconventional body on top.
While plane-conversion RVs are still thin on the ground, we've seen other plane bits modified in similar ways—such as this cute little jet-engine camper. By 1941, the old Air Corps had been transformed into the Army Air Forces, and it selected a modified version of the DC-3—the C-47 Skytrain—to become its standard transport aircraft.
A reinforced fuselage floor and the addition of a large cargo door were the only major modifications. Other changes included the fitting of cargo hooks beneath the center wing section and the removal of the tail cone to mount a hook for towing gliders.
It's not every day you see an aircraft rolling down the highway, and if you did, you'd be forgiven for thinking there's been some kind of in-flight disaster followed by an emergency landing. However, in the case of the Fabulous Flamingo, what you'd actually be looking at is a custom-built RV put together by Gino Lucci and his son Giacinto.
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