The authors describe this book as a labor of love and who can blame them
for there are few aviation enthusiasts who do not share their great
affection and respect for one of the finest and long-lived aircraft ever
to take to the skies, the DC-/C-47.
This book examines in detail one aspect of the aircraft's history which
is not that well known, the fact that DC-3s and their military
equivalents and derivatives have been in continuous service in that
geographically diverse region of the world known as Latin America for
more than 75 years, longer than anywhere else in the world.
The DC-3 and C-47 came upon the scene at precisely the right moment in
every nation. They were in use from the Rio Grande south all the way to
Antarctica and from the remote Galapagos in the Pacific to the Antilles
chain in the Caribbean.
As always, they were used as workhorses and heavy-lifters, but a
significant number, surprisingly, saw combat service in a number of most
exotic circumstances, both as ad hoc bombers and combat aircraft. C-47s
were not only the most numerous type in some national inventories, but
often the most heavily utilized and valued.
Richly illustrated, with tables describing the often extraordinary
individual services lives of each-and-every known aircraft, this is a
testament to the men and women who, for three-quarters of a century,
have sweated, cursed and yet loved these magnificent aircraft.
