Douglas C-47 Dakota of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. The C-47 was the more powerful military version of the DC-3 airliner which first flew in 1935. This aircraft, ZA947, was made in 1942 and issued to the United States Army Air Force then transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force . The RAF also used some 2,000 and it is shown in the black-and-white D-Day identifying stripes of a Dakota of No 233 Squadron in 1944.