After WW II the origional "Black Sparrow" went to serve in the Polish National Airline, flew for an Iranian company, served in the French Air Force, and then saw duty as a cargo hauler in Canada until being scrapped in 1976.

The aircraft that the Great Lakes Wing flies was built in May of 1945 as a C-47, but then transferred to the U.S. Navy as an R4D military personnel transport. Later on it was modified as a navigational trainer. In 1963 the aircraft was transferred to the FAA and used to check the accuracy of the navigational aids in the National Airspace System. It did its final stint with the Government with the Department of Agriculture. The CAF purchased the aircraft in 1980.

One of the most important aircraft in the history of aviation, the twin-engined Douglas DC-3 first flew as the DST (Douglas Sleeper Transport) on December 17, 1935, and had established itself as a commercial aircraft long before it put on a uniform as the C-47 in 1940.

The U.S. Army Air Corps was to become the largest operator of the C-47, absorbing more than 10,500 of all versions, compared with the 448 civil versions built before the outbreak of WW II. After the war a number were modified to reconnaissance aircraft, search and rescue aircraft and staff transports.

In 1948, the C-47 was one of the first aircraft to participate in the massive Berlin Airlift. During this time an incredible incident occured which demonstrated the capability of the airplane. There was a mix-up in the shorthand used on the cargo manifests: what should have been a full load of aluminum planking was really steel planking. The C-47 was designed to carry a maximum load of 6500 pounds, but this particular aircraft had carried a load of steel weighing 13,500 pounds!

Not only did the C-47 go on to serve in Korea and Vietnam, it has also operated in all parts of the world under almost every flag and has been used for just about all airborne roles - including ground attack.

In the late 1980s, Basler Turbo Conversions, Inc., of Oshkosh, Wisconsin started converting C-47/DC-3s into a modern aircraft by installing turboprop engines and updating the airframe and cockpit. The venerable and versatile Douglas transport is still flying the skies today and will be flying well into the next century.