Known as the workhorse of World War II, more than 10,000 C-47 variants were built throughout the course of the war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Operated by a crew of four \u2014 pilot and copilot in the cockpit, and a radio operator and navigator seated in a separate compartment behind \u2014 the twin-engine low-winged monoplane was constructed of a light, all-metal and fabric-covered control surface. Each plane could carry 28 fully equipped troops or up to 6,000 pounds of cargo, including a jeep or an M3 37mm antitank gun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While only a handful of bomber and fighter aircraft from the war are still airworthy today, it is estimated that hundreds of C-47s are still airborne around the world \u2014 a testament to the design\u2019s durability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Placid Lassie is more extraordinary still. While fitted with a new engine, the plane still retains most of its wartime features, replete with the original interior black aluminum paint that factory workers from Long Beach, California, hastily slapped on in 1943. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s quite rare,\u201d William Miton, a pilot for Southwest Airlines who has been with the Tunison Foundation since 2022, told Military Times in a recent interview. \u201cThe fact that the airplane has pretty much been continuously flying since 1943 is pretty impressive. As they say, \u2018You can crash a DC-3 [the civilian version of a C-47], but you can\u2019t wear one out.\u2019 Here\u2019s proof in the pudding.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Sept. 5 and 6, the Placid Lassie was on full display to support Angel Flight East<\/a> and its annual fundraiser, Wings N\u2019 Wheels, in Philadelphia. The nonprofit\u2019s mission, according to its website<\/a>, is to provide free air transportation to patients and their families by arranging flights to distant medical facilities \u2014 a fitting endeavor for the veteran aircraft that once transported troops and medically evacuated them from battle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Constructed in 1943, the Placid Lassie was assigned to the 74th Troop Carrier Squadron, 434th Troop Carrier Group, and maintained the same crew for the duration of the war, save one pilot, Lt. Merton E. Eckert, who became a captain of his own C-47 and was subsequently killed during Operation Market Garden in September 1944. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Placid Lassie was tasked with ferrying men of the 101st Airborne Division over the English Channel on D-Day; flew four missions during Operation Market Garden; participated in the resupply of the 101st Airborne during the critical days of Dec. 23-26, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge; and dropped paratroopers over the Rhine in Operation Varsity \u2014 the largest airborne operation to take place in a single day over a single location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lassie\u2019s postwar life saw it serve as a cargo aircraft until 2000, when, due to neglect, it began to suffer from engine problems and remained grounded, growing derelict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It wasn\u2019t until nearly a decade later that the cargo plane, purchased by British businessman James Lyle, that the Placid Lassie received another lease on life. Lyle teamed up with Clive Edwards, a noted U.K. aircraft restoration specialist, and made it his mission to restore the C-47 to airworthiness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_8410.jpeg.jpg\")
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