FTW | April 2009 | Cowtown Warbird Roundup | C-49 "Southern Cross"

 

 

Built originally in 1942 for American Airlines, this Douglas was delivered instead to the US Army Air Force but only spent two years in military service before being transferred back to civilian hands.

Tail number is N87745. Reviewing the registries, it had the military designation C-49J.

The Douglas C-49 was the designation given to 138 Wright Cyclone powered DC-3s impressed by the USAAF after the American entry into the Second World War. Of these 138 aircraft 75 were taken direct from the production lines (C-49, C-49A, C-49B, C-49C, six C-49Ds, C-49J and C-49K), while the remaining 63 were already in service (five Ds and E-H). Another four apparently very similar Cyclone powered DC-3s were given the designation C-84. These aircraft differed in minor details, such as the number of seats installed. Many of the aircraft that were already in service were then leased back to airlines operating on approved routes seen as important by the War Department, although rarely went back to their original owners.