FSX/P3D Douglas C-47 Skytrain/DC-3 Mega Pack

Now version 3.14 (V3.1406). This package includes the latest Douglas C-47 Skytrain/DC-3 model along with 20+ repaints compatible with this version. Some tweaks may need to be made to ensure compatibility with the repaints but they will work - there is a document inside the "Repaints" folder in the ZIP archive.

Previous versions of this file were called - c47basepack.zip and douglas_c-47_v3_12_beta.zip

This model is guaranteed to work in all versions of FSX along with Prepar3D including the latest v4 (P3Dv4).

Repaints included

Over 20+ repaints have been included in this "mega pack". You can find all of them below.

The repaints mentioned below are already packed with the model - it's a full pack - with no need to modify aircraft.cfg files or anything like that - they are already installed, configured, and bundled. However, this pack does include additional repaints that you may install yourself. Further details below.

Bonanza Air Lines

Bonanza was the first all-jet powered airline in the United States. It was based in Las Vegas. They operated from inception in 1945 until merging into Air West in 1968. Their DC-3s were phased out in 1960.

PH-PBA

PH-PBA as operated from 1946 - 1947 and 1947 until 1960. This download contains two liveries for the C-47 as owned and flown The Netherlands Government. This aircraft was once active in the II World War and thereafter stored in Germany. In 1946 it came in ownership with the Netherlands Government and was regularly flown by his RH Prince Bernard of The Netherlands and has flown for the Royal household for some years. In the first year, it flew under its military registration and later it became registered as the well known PH-PBA.

Netherlands Civil Aviation Authority

This aircraft was once active in World War II, owned by the Prins Bernard of The Netherlands and flown as a calibration aircraft for the Rijksluchtvaartdienst (RLD) or Netherlands Civil Aviation Authorities and now still in airworthy condition in operation with the Dutch Dakota Association "DDA Classic Airlines"

Dutch Dakota Association

​Dutch Dakota Association Douglas C-47 PH-DDA "Prinses Amalia". This aircraft was active in the II World War, once owned by the Prins Bernard of The Netherlands, flown as a calibration aircraft and now in airworthy condition flying for the Dutch Dakota Association "DDA Classic Airlines".

Three Exterior Models

This package includes exterior only models C47 v3_1 (wartime, Rebecca aerial, no beacon), C47 v3_2 (post-war, tailfin beacon, minus Rebecca), and C47v3_GAF (special aerials and beacons as used by the GAF calibrator planes of the nineteen seventies).

Santa Fe Skyway

LOT Douglas C-47 (DC-3) "22 Lipca"

"Bluebonnet Belle"

C-47B 43-49942 - N47HL, Commemorative Air Force. This C47 was built in 1944 and was flown to Canada where it was transferred to the U.K.under the lend-lease program. In Britain it was assigned to the 435th Transport Squadron, a Canadian unit. It served in the China/Burma/India theater until the end of WW2. After the war, the aircraft returned to Canada and in the mid-1990s the aircraft returned to the USA. The CAF acquired the aircraft in 2002 and spent two years on the restoration of the aircraft.

MAAM Douglas C-47 (DC-3)

A repaint of former USN BuN 50819 at the Mid Atlantic Air Museum, registration N229GB. This repaint responds to the famous model and skin of R4D-6 from MAAM (yes, FS2004 times!). BTW, model has some limitations so it isn't in 100% with the real one, something like 95%.

Private Unmarked Livery 1 & 2

This time a red DC-3/C-47 for your every need. Whether you are asked to fly some suspicious cargo across Africa or the Caribbean Sea, or you just want a personal holiday-vehicle, this DC-3 is what you need! Unmarked, unregistered in any country, no known history and reasonably well maintained.

"Spirit of Middlesex"

A repaint of Douglas Dakota Mk IV KN340 VM-YBN "Spirit of Middlesex" of No 234 Sqn based at Camden in September 1945.

"Spirit of Ostra Brama"

A repaint of Dakota Mk.III (C-47A) named "Spirit of Ostra Brama" (FD547) used by the main commander of Polish forces general Kazimierz Sosnowski (pilot Lieutenant Jozef Tyszko), No. 216 Transport Bomber Squadron). Used in 03-08.1944. Italy. RAF, the crew from Poland.

"Swamp Rat II"

A repaint of 41-38678 "Swamp Rat II" (374th TCG 6th TCS) Douglas C-47-DL (c/n 6073) to USAAF Nov 30, 1942 - 5th AF, Australia Jan 15, 1943 - USA Jan 20, 1944 - To RFC Oct 02, 1945.

Black & White Nose

Aeropostal vintage repaint for the freeware Douglas C-47 Skytrain v3 (beta, but 100% functional Douglas_C-47_V3_12_Beta.zip) with the colors in use in the late 1960s - early 1970s. Aeropostal is one of the oldest Venezuelan commercial airlines, still in service.

VC Repaint

​Douglas C47 'vintage black' office with faded brown upholstery and padding.

Ozark Airlines Douglas DC-3 1965

Ozark Air Lines of Missouri, began scheduled services in 1950 using DC-3s between St. Louis and Chicago. They eventually created a vast route network spreading two-thirds of the USA. The name OZARK is said to derive from the French "Bois Aux Arc" - "Wood of Bows". Incidentally, the Ozarks are highlands that stretch across 5 states in Mid-America.

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Ozark Airline's logo of the 3 swallows was chosen because the birds are traditional symbols of safe travel and good luck. In the beginning, Ozark flew various pistons such as CV-240s, Martin 404s, and the DC-3s. Turboprop F-27/FH-227Bs were also used.

By 1968 all their piston-engined airliners were retired, and the FH-227Bs took their routes. Their first jet, a DC-9-10, was delivered in May 1966. Later on, they used DC-9-30s and MD-82s.

In 1985 Ozark boasted a huge fleet of DC-9s, and passenger boardings topped the five million mark for the first time. Ozark was progressing very well. However, TWA was none too pleased with the competition from Ozark, so after applying heavy pressure on the airline from Missouri, they purchased it in 1986 and integrated it into their network.

Iberia Vintage C-47/DC-3 1953/1963 Pack

The first Douglas DC-3 planes that flew to Iberia had been military transports of the C-47A version. The first DC-3 that were used in Spain were three devices that were lost and landed by mistake in the Protectorate of Morocco. For two decades this plane would be the most important part of the air transport system in Spain, both civil and military.

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All the planes that arrived at the airlines were C-47 military, with the floor reinforced The internal configuration of the DC-3 was 21 seats, although the strong existing demand then forced the installation of folding seats, which increased the capacity to 25 seats, although sometimes it reached up to 28, which was the maximum capacity. The file contains two real models, with liveries used between 1953-1963 and 1963-1966.

North Central Douglas DC-3

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North Central Airlines DC-3 textures.

Additional Manual-Install Repaints

This pack also includes an abundance of additional repaints that you may configure yourself if you wish to use them. These additional repaints were created for previous versions of the C-47 Skytrain models but the majority of these additional repaints do indeed work with this latest edition (as tested ourselves).

Manual Install Liveries also included are;

• Pacific Northern Airlines
• Ohio University
• Jugoslovenski Aerotransport
• Aero Holland
• South Pacific Airways E5-SBS (Vintage)
• Dakota 16697
• Indochine Squadron Franche-Comte
• Swedish Air Force
• Aerovias Douglas C-47 PP-AVJ
• South Pacific Airways E5-SBN (Vintage)
• NOAA
• "Mosquito Control"
• South Pacific Airways Douglas C-47 E5-SAD (Metallic)
• Sabena Douglas OO-AWZ
• 1947 American Airways Flagship Tulsa
• South Pacific Airways E5-SBS (Modern)
• Northwest Airlines
• "Kroonduif"
• VARIG
• Schneider Airways
• "Malta"
• South Pacific Airways E5-SBS (Metallic)
• Royal Air Lao
• French Navy
• South Pacific Airways E5-SAD (Vintage)
• Legend Airways
• L'Envolee Air Inter
• Rhode Island ANG
• Autrex Indochina
• Army Missile Command
• RAF Middle East
• RCAF Dakota MkIV KN269
• RCAF Dakota CSR MkIII KG587
• USMC R4D-6 Quantico
• ML-KNIL C47 Tjililitan 1950
• ML-KNIL C47 Tjililitan 1949
• USMC R4D-6 Fleet Marine Force
• USMC Douglas C-47J H&MS-32

Developer Information

With this package, you have downloaded the probably long-awaited update for our Douglas C-47R Skytrain V3.12 Beta edition.

The main culprit of the delay happened to be the dreaded FSX bug that prevents ambient 'VCLighting' to be used with VC's that use bump-mapped textures. A lot of unforeseen new texture work was therefore at hand. Anyway, as you will soon see when you take your Skytrain/Dakota/Gooney Bird up for a first night flight, we've made it bump-mapped textures are still there in the VVC (Vintage Virtual Cockpit) along with ambient 'VC lighting' at dusk/night/dawn. 1-0 for us.

The now implemented VVC night lighting is actually the main feature of this V3.14 update but it certainly is not the only new feature or addition.

The Interactive Checklist has been significantly upgraded, 'Automixture' can now be activated, the flight dynamics have been fine-tuned, alternative config files have been provided for joystick or pedal control of ground-steering, and there is a set of working OMI Marker Lights.

Further modifications and corrections have been implemented following V3.12 users' and beta team feedback including new VOR1/2 Compass Roses, better placement of AH markers and various texture corrections/additions here and there. And that's not all, we also have installed a Showstopper!

It comes in the form of an interchangeable photo or picture that can be clipped on the left side of the Captain's panel. 4 different photos/pictures can be selected simply by clicking it.

To complete this 'personal touch' implementation you can replace the 4 default photos/pics with a true personal subject if you like to. For obvious reasons, we have called this new gadget 'Cutie' and a description of how to make your own 'Cutie' texture follows here underneath.

VVC NIGHT LIGHTING

Currently, aka 'for the time being', we can offer two types of cockpit night lighting. Red ambient cockpit light and UV light that will light up the Main Panels, Overhead Panels and Gauges (with a future final update panel and gauge lights will be separated).

Red ambient light can be switched On/Off with a single knob on the Captain's Overhead Panel. UV Lighting consists of various UV lamps situated on the left and right cockpit walls, roof, and throttle quadrant. Currently they will be switched On/Off all together, hopefully, we'll be able to change that with the next and final update.

As opposed to the single ambient light knob the UV light can be switched On/Off with three knobs. One is situated on the Captain's panel, a second one on the Co-Pilot's panel and the third one on top of the Throttle Quadrant.

Click the switch and it will move to 'Start', meaning it will take a second or two for the UV light to actually come on. Once it does the knob will automatically turn to 'On'. Click the knob again and it will move to 'Off'.

The gauges' dials and needles are painted with so-called 'radioluminescent' paint that glows in the dark. Dangerous stuff in the real world, lucky for us it is harmless. In real life, the glow of this radioluminescent paint would gradually disappear and that UV lighting, therefore, helped a lot for the gauges to still be readable during the night.

INTERACTIVE CHECKLIST

Call up the Checklist either via Shift-5 or by clicking any of the checklist icons in Shift-4 Monitor > Misc.

When you pick a Checklist item, the line will be highlighted. If the item is already set and checked, the cursor will proceed to the next line. It will wait for a click when it comes to an item that has no checkmark.

To set a value via the checklist L-click the line again. On pages 1 and 2 (Before Starting, and Engine Start), an R-click removes or undoes the current setting (if possible). This comes in handy as a learning mode for identifying the location and operation of switches.

Page navigation is bottom left for the previous, bottom middle for the exit, and bottom right for the next page. There are some occasional hotspots for items such as "Cold and Dark" on p.1, "Power Settings" on p. 4, etc.

If you want the Checklist to be accompanied by voice callouts from the pilots remember to turn on the callouts option via the Title page of the Checklist, or the interphone switch on the left of the pilot's seat.

AUTOMIXTURE

The pilot has two main choices: (a) controlling the mixture manually as in V 3.12 and or (b) using the new C-47 Automixture system.

For using the C-47 Automixture system, the "Automixture" line under FSX realism settings must be turned OFF. It is best turned OFF for manual mode, too. In manual mode, the "mixture set best" setting is available via default key Ctrl-X. Never use Ctrl-X when in C-47 Automixture mode because this will lead to a 'flooding' loop. Usually, you can stop the flooding by briefly changing over to manual mode, and then turning Automixture on again.

When loading a flight, the C-47 Automixture mode should be ON by default. You can toggle it manually either by R-clicking a mixture lever or by clicking Shift-4 Monitor > Engines > Mixture (which also provides a readout of the current setting).

Unlike manual mode, Automixture mode restricts lever movement to the following stops or detents:

• EMERGENCY (full rich, 100%),
• Auto-Rich (AR, target fuel/air ratio is 0.080),
• Auto-Lean (AL, f/a 0.074),
• Cutoff guard (against accidentally moving to cutoff)
• Idle cutoff (ICOF).

In C-47 Automixture mode the cockpit mixture levers will snap to the placarded positions. In manual mode, they move continuously.

To set a C-47 Automixture setting use either of the following:

• VC levers: drag or mouse wheel
• Monitor > Engines > Mixture: click L/R or wheel up/dn on the value hotspot (L=less, R=more)
• FSX default keys Shift-Ctrl-F1 (ICOF), Shift-Ctrl-F2 (decrease), Shift-Ctrl-F3 (increase), Shift-Ctrl-F4 (EMRG/full rich)
• Mixture hardware levers if fitted (range intentionally restricted to AR/AL only)
• Any mixture item on the Shift-5 Checklist

Once a setting has been changed, the mixture will slowly adjust to reach the expected fuel/air ratio. This can take up to half a minute. If you see continuous mixture adjustments over a longer period of time ("flooding") turn Automixture OFF and adjust mixture manually...

Note: Given the variety of options currently present, any report of an issue is best accompanied by a screenshot showing the readouts of the Shift-3 Control and Shift-4 Monitor panel windows.

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GROUND HANDLING/STEERING

Assuming that most flight simmers do not possess fancy rudder pedals with toe brakes but fly their virtual aircraft using a simple or more advanced joystick we have provided two slightly different aircraft.cfg's to handle ground steering. The default aircraft.cfg is best to be used by people who use a joystick with 3 axes (aileron, elevator, and rudder) and can also handle differential braking. If no differential braking can be used keep the same default aircraft.cfg but open it and search for [contact points].

Underneath the contact points listing you'll find a line called ' //-->Alternative settings for tailwheel steering '. Remove the two slashes in front of '//point' while placing them in front of 'point' on the line beneath ( //-->Default settings with free castoring tailwheel ). Don't forget to save the changes.

Lucky simmers with rudder pedals and toe brakes are advised to use the alternative aircraft.cfg called 'aircraft.cfg-C47pedalsensitive'. Rename 'aircraft.cfg' to something like 'aircraft.cfg_org' and remove '-C47pedalsensitive' from the respective file name. You always have 'aircraft.cfg-C47default' as a backup if anything goes wrong.

INSTALLATION:

First, move your current 'Douglas C-47R_V3.12 Beta' out of your FSX (or P3D) /Objects/Airplanes folder.

Next, unzip this package to a temp folder keeping the folder structure intact. Move the 'Douglas C-47R_V3.14 Beta' folder either to your FSX or P3D Airplanes folder. Open the Effects folder in which you should see three folders named FSX, P3Dv3 and texture, plus two effect files called 'fx_c47parajump.fx' and 'fx_vclight_c47v3.fx'. Move these two fx files to either your FSX- or P3D/Effects folder.

The FSX and P3Dv3 folders contain the exhaust smoke effects files. Depending on which sim you use to open the respective folder and move the 'fx_Cranky_DC3_TFF.fx' file to the Effects folder of either FSX or P3D. Click 'Yes' when asked to Overwrite.

Finally, move the two BMP files (fx_c47para1.bmp and fx_c47para2.bmp) from the texture folder to either your FSX or P3D Effects/Texture folder. These are the two files that texture your parajumpers.

To port your V3.12 repaints to V3.14, copy the relevant [fltsim] sections from the 3.12 aircraft.cfg and paste them into the new V 3.14 aircraft.cfg. Make sure the numbering sequence is in proper order. Important: also edit all sim= lines to read 'sim=Douglas_DC3_v1.5' (no longer '1.4'). We have included the two additional exterior models that some of the V3.12 repaints call for, so nothing needs to be changed in that area.

That should do it. Please do read the Manual as it contains more valuable information about the various updates of this V3.14 edition.

We hope you have as much fun flying your upgraded C-47 as we had to put this first update together.

Developer: Jan Visser.