Today I am rewatching as much of BoB as I can squeeze in.

Something I noticed that I'm curious about at the end of the first episode as all the C-47s are taxiing into takeoff position. They all have the same L4 painted on their nose. I would have thought that would be a unique designation to be able to identify specific aircraft. Or is this simply a Hollywood thing where they had one functioning C-47 that they filmed multiple times and superimposed all those separate shots into one?

I don't know what the L4 means but I read or heard they only had a couple working C47s for that scene.

The two letters nose by the cockpit denoted the Squadron and a third letter painted on the tail denoted the individual aircraft.

In this case, 4 or more aircraft would L4 painted on the nose, with each aircraft having a different tail number.

From an AI search using Google:
In World War II, the C-47 marked with "L4" most prominently belonged to the 91st Troop Carrier Squadron, 439th Troop Carrier Group. This squadron flew Serial 12 during the D-Day invasion, specifically carrying paratroopers from the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, plus elements of the 101st Airborne Division HQ. The aircraft carrying Lt. Winters' stick was identified as 42-100646 L4-E, Chalk Number 67.

They used 4 flying Douglas DC-3/C-47's in Band of Brothers.
They are as below and owners:
N147DC - Owned by Aces High (USA). They supply numerous aircraft to the film industry.
N47FK - Owned by the Dutch Dakota Association (British designation for a C-47). US designation was Skytrain)
G-DAKK -Owned by South Coast Airways. (A Civilian DC-3 painted for Band of Brothers)
G-AMRA- Owned by Air Atlantique Classic Flight. (DC-3)

The Commemorative Air Force (Former Confederate Air Force) , has three flying C-47's but the film production company did not reach an agreement to use them due to logistic problems.

Thanks for all of these responses. I did think of the tail numbers, but didn't pick anything out on them while watching the show.

Interesting that there aren't more of these around. The US Military used these for decades I believe.

My Dad is a Vietnam vet and I remember him telling a story of how he witnessed the AC-47 Spooky in action and the destruction that it left on the ground.

By far, my favorite series of all time.
Bucket list item is to do the tour of Easy Company's steps from Currahee to the Eagle's nest.

Lots of small freight lines used to use them up until about 15 or so years ago but many have since stopped using them.
The issue is the old air frames are getting tired with age and airframe hours.
The other issue is the engines. Originally the Douglas DC-3 had Curtis-Wright radial R-1820's. Then the latter Military C-47's and DC-3's had the radial Pratt & Whitney R-1830's.
Parts availability and maintenance have skyrocketed the cost of keeping them in the air.
There are some that have been retrofitted for the Pratt&Whitney PT-6A which is a turboprop engine.
Recent numbers show that there are around 165 DC-3/C-47's in flying condition today. About 90 of those are in the U.S. …According to the DC-3 Appreciation Society and the CAF.
It's sure nice, from time to time, to catch a glimpse of one in the air and hear the classic drone of those P&W's radials all synchronized and humming along.
A sound of a unique era we should never forget.

Some chicken restaurant chain had one in the late 70s, and I saw it fly over Kyle Field during a game, Loved the sound.

Some of the turbo conversions land at Amarillo for fuel a couple of times a year. They are ski conversions, and they work the Arctic during summer, and the Antarctic during our winter/their summer.



Rodney Bastow photography

Wow. I had never seen a pic of one converted. Looks funny. Those sleak cowlings on that old air frame design.
Looks like a Ferrari front end on a 57 Chevy.

There used to be a small freight line company based in San Antonio that would fly right over the ranch heading west every other afternoon. I would see him and just stop, watch and listen and think of another time.
If I hear a radial engine I will turn over my chair or desk trying to get outside fast enough to see what it is and get a glimpse.

I'm pretty sure the fuselage has a plug in it, making it longer, as well.

I'll be damned. Boy that cost somebody a pretty penny. They would have had to get a whole new STC for the airframe plus the STC for the engines. That weren't cheap!

Another observation/question inspired by BOB.

I can't recall a clip showing WWII infantry employing their rifle while it is slinged. This is unlike today's infantry who routinely fire with their rifle cross slinged.

Why now and not back then?

Belton Ag said:

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My Dad is a Vietnam vet and I remember him telling a story of how he witnessed the AC-47 Spooky in action and the destruction that it left on the ground.

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Also known as "Puff the Magic Dragon", I believe.

My dad was also a Vietnam vet as an infantry officer. He told once of calling one in when their compound was surrounded by the Viet Cong/North Vietnamese. He said that the jungle was completely silent that night afterwards. The next day they did a reconnaissance patrol. They found a Buddhist temple with a metal roof. The temple was full of blood stains, but no bodies. The roof had bullet holes everywhere.

Utilizing the same flat turning capabilities as Puff The Magic Dragon, my dad young Lt John spent a year in 1962 flying a C-47 with cameras rather than guns out of Osan South Korea all up and down the DMZ taking pictures across and into North Korea. Locating and documenting communist troop placements or watching for movements. He spent the Cuban missile crisis on the ramp expecting imminent launch.

The second less sexy duties he spent the rest of the year periodically also dumping bails of printed propaganda out the door if the prevailing winds would carry them towards the North - promises of good treatment, food, and medical - pork and kimchi in a pot for everybody

74OA said:

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Another observation/question inspired by BOB.

I can't recall a clip showing WWII infantry employing their rifle while it is slinged. This is unlike today's infantry who routinely fire with their rifle cross slinged.

Why now and not back then?

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M1 is twice as long as the M4 and is 4 pounds heavier. It was not designed to be carried and or fired that way.

Rabid Cougar said:

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74OA said:

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Another observation/question inspired by BOB.

I can't recall a clip showing WWII infantry employing their rifle while it is slinged. This is unlike today's infantry who routinely fire with their rifle cross slinged.

Why now and not back then?

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M1 is twice as long as the M4 and is 4 pounds heavier. It was not designed to be carried and or fired that way.

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1903s were just about the same size and weight and very frequently used with a sling in combat situations.

Wonder if it was slow and steady nature of the bolt action mentality coming into play?

ABATTBQ87 said:

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This clip's demonstration of the "loop sling" is almost exactly like how basic marksmanship was taught to me in USMC boot camp (1981) using the M16A1 (only there was a lot more yelling lol). Loop sling was not even brought up in basic infantry tactics as it was too cumbersome to "assemble" and operate with in the field.

Modern cross slings are not.

If not mistaken, WWII snipers or squad marksmen using the 1903 would have had the time (and desire) to use the loop sling in combat as they tended to be relatively static and in "fire support" vs fire and maneuver, CQB, or mass fires suppression .

I have seen episodes from one or perhaps two of the documentaries about World War II that showed footage that was incorrect. Supposedly the videos were of Tarawa but some of the footage was likely from Iwo Jima and some of it was either Iwo or Guadalcanal.

Gunny456 said:

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Recent numbers show that there are around 165 DC-3/C-47's in flying condition today. About 90 of those are in the U.S. …According to the DC-3 Appreciation Society and the CAF.

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I know they highlighted them at Osh Kosh about 10 or 15 years ago. I had a family member that took part in that. I don't remember how many flew in for it but it was quite a few.

Those birds are amazing - it's a very stable and smooth ride, but also very loud!

Here's a few pics of his plane (Sky King) - currently hangered at Mid America Flight Museum in Mt Pleasant:

I remember seeing it at Oshkosh! My goodness that's a nice plane! Beautiful! Thank you for sharing those pics.

C47 over LaFiere Bridge area, June 2024

I've seen airports in the Caribbean and, more recently, Alaska, where the DC-3s seemed to be everywhere. Side note: It's a really pretty airframe.

Gunny456 said:

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I remember seeing it at Oshkosh! My goodness that's a nice plane! Beautiful! Thank you for sharing those pics.

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Cool! Yes it's really nice - it took him about 5 years to restore it. It was the first warbird in the museum, so it's a little special to the family.

I use to know some of those guys at Mid America a while back. If I remember they had a couple of L birds. Seems like they had a L-2, L-5 or L-4 maybe? They brought them to an airshow in San Antonio or San Marcos we were attending . My dad restored a Taylorcraft L-2 and I had an Interstate L-6. We belonged to a wing of the CAF called the Alamo Liason Squadron at the time….and I remember them bringing some planes and hung out with us. Nice group of guys.

They have an L-19, which they have had forever - so I guess it is technically the first warbird of the museum. I've actually flown that one. It's a lot of fun in the air, but I have never been great at flying taildraggers. I think that's the one I spun around when doing training for my endorsement!

A fun side note - Scott used to work at the airport but also had a hangar and grass strip at his house. For a while, he hardly ever drove his car and would fly from his house to work daily in the L-19. We joked that it was his commuter plane!

One of our group had a really nice L-19. His name was Larry Flynn. I flew with him in it a few times. He was an instructor and would always give me my Bi Annuals. He gave me my check ride in my L-6.
I always wished I could own a L-19 but it was out of my league. The L-6 was about all I could afford!
Yep. Nothing like flying a taildragger…. You can't stop flying them till they're tied down with chocks!