Estrella WarBirds Museum

The Gooney Bird

The Douglas C-47 project began early in 2008 when a stored C-47 was found through internet search. Several of the C-47's had been purchased 9 years earlier after the Israeli Air Forces had retired their C-47 fleet.  These had been flown from Tel Aviv to Edmonton, Canada. Other than occasionally turning the engines, they sat on a tarmac as part of a static display. The Gooney Bird Group was formed to purchase one. After careful inspection of three planes, it was decided to purchase N47SJ. Following several trips by a restoration crew from Paso Robles to Edmonton, Canada, the plane received a transport flyable status and it was flown to Paso Robles, with the first stop entering the United States since it was manufactured, stopping in Washington for customs, then on to Reno, NV overnight, then Estrella Warbirds Museum in Paso Robles, California.

The next two years included endless hours of meticulous restoration by volunteers.  It was surprising to find that the airframe of this particular aircraft had less than 10,000 hours on it, even after serving the US in Europe during WW II, France, Belgium, and 30 years as part of the Israeli Air Forces!   The original electronics still functioned.  The instrumentation had to be translated from Hebrew to English.  The interior was taken down to bare metal, primed and repainted.  Cables were inspected, cleaned and replaced where necessary.  The exterior had only minor damage which was repaired, hand sanded, repainted to the original Normandy markings.