C-47-DL 41-18401 N150D This aircraft was originally ordered as a DST, or Douglas Sleeper Transport, in 1941. However, with the U.S. Army Air Forces took over her contract, impressing her for war service before her completion. She was delivered to the USAAF as C-47 41-18401 at Douglas Aircraft’s Factory in Long Beach, California on June 23rd, 1942 one of very few C-47s completed at this facility. The aircraft never became part of a formal military squadron however, heading straight into service with Pan American Airways on July 2nd, 1942. She served mostly out of North Africa and the Middle East at this time.

Following WWII, the aircraft was transferred to the French Air Force, joining them on November 20th, 1945 and serving faithfully for the next two decades before being sold on to the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in January, 1967. There is some indication that the aircraft served with the Ugandan Air Force for a period before her retirement from the IDF in November, 1995.

-On 6 June 2019, for the 75th anniversary and as part of the commemorations of D-Day landings, a flight of 21 Dakotas carrying paratrooper re-enactors flew from Duxford in England to Sannerville in Normandy. This was one of the largest, perhaps the largest, gatherings of C-47/DC-3/Dakota aircraft for over 75 years. <a href="http://www.curbsideclassic.com/rampside-classic/runway-classic-the-c-47-skytrain-dakota-over-normandy-75-years-on/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.curbsideclassic.com/rampside-classic/runway-classic-t...</a>