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C-47 interior


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This one looks like it may be bare metal

C-47_Interior_3.jpg

This one looks like zinc chromate in parts and dull dark green in others, but it also looks pretty weathered so who knows

263094719_689e0a1f14_o.jpg

And of course, Interior Green

c47-tail-nose-mid.jpg

Plus I have seen shots with part of the interior padded so the padding could be in drab like on a B-17 I suppose. Many options available, none of them sky blue.

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Does anyone know the color of the interior of the c-47. Trump instructions say sky as in blue. Is that correct?

From Dna Bell via HS:

Dana Bell

C-47 Interiors

Thu Oct 5 13:16:32 2000

Greg,

There are few simple answers to your questions, and, despite my best efforts, I haven’t been able to figure out all the complicated ones! I’ve checked tons of correspondence and many color photos, and only pulled up fragments of the story.

Early Douglas transports and B-18s spec’d DuPont Pine Green in the cockpits. Though we don’t know exactly what Pine Green looked like, this probably wasn’t a company name for Bronze Green, since the same specs called for that paint on exterior antiglare surfaces.

Bronze Green and Dull Dark Green probably came into use somewhere along the line, though cockpit photos are usually too dark for positive identification. At some point (1943?), Douglas reported it had switched to Interior Green and asked if this was OK (the Army approved, after the fact). Medium Green would not have been an option at mid-1944.

Cabins should have been the same colors, though several photos suggest this wasn’t a consistent application. Open doors (supposedly painted the same as the cabin) seem to show Dull Dark Green and Interior Green. Some interior color shots from the CBI seem to show a pale gray green similar to Sky Type S; this could be a variation of Interior Green, bad film/lighting/processing, or, perhaps, Sky. (The Army, for some reason, specified Sky interiors for some aircraft in the late ‘40s and ‘50s – was this the beginning?) Floors were often unpainted aluminum.

The quilted insulation I’ve seen in other survivors seems to have been Dull Dark Green (or, in one case, Olive Drab). I haven’t found enough of this to support any theory.

Most cowl interiors, seen in maintenance photos, seem to be aluminum. Cowls could easily have had one coat primer (yellow) or two coats (green).

Wheel wells, hubs, and struts were probably Neutral Gray.

Good luck with the project – don’t forget to use different shades of OD 41 for the outer wing panels, moveable control surfaces, and fins and stabs!

-Dana

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You would have to check the model you are depicting but if I recall right, If they where used for jumps, The inside of the rear doors were painted same as the green on the out side. That way the doors when open would be same color as the plane in air.

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Actually, they didn't open the cargo doors in flight. For paratrooper ops, there is a smaller door inside the forward cargo door, which was simply removed. In fact, the cargo door hinges were usually taped over for jumps to keep paratroopers and their equipment from getting snagged.

SN

pod-0502.jpg

c471.jpg

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Actually, they didn't open the cargo doors in flight. For paratrooper ops, there is a smaller door inside the forward cargo door, which was simply removed. In fact, the cargo door hinges were usually taped over for jumps to keep paratroopers and their equipment from getting snagged.

SN

They did it a few ways. I have seen some with the doors removed and just the back door on. Some aircraft even both doors off with a net that could be undone.

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They did it a few ways. I have seen some with the doors removed and just the back door on. Some aircraft even both doors off with a net that could be undone.

Wayne,

Can you post images of C-47's configured as you described for paratroop operations? Or list the references?

Thanks!

Don

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