Few aircraft are as well known or were so widely used for so long as the C-47, or "Gooney Bird" as it was affectionately nicknamed. The aircraft was adapted from the DC-3 commercial airliner. The U.S. Army Air Corps ordered the first C-47s in 1940, and by the end of World War II, procured a total of 9,348. C-47s carried personnel and cargo, and in combat, towed troop-carrying gliders and dropped paratroops into enemy territory.

After WWII, many C-47s remained in U.S. Air Force service, participating in the Berlin Airlift and other peacetime activities. During the Korean War, C-47s hauled supplies, dropped paratroops, evacuated wounded and dropped flares for night bombing attacks. In Vietnam, the C-47 served again as a transport, but it was also used in a variety of other ways which included flying ground attack (gunship), reconnaissance and psychological warfare missions.

The C-47D on display was manufactured in 1944 and delivered to the US Army Air Corps on March 27, 1945. It remained in the US Air Force inventory until November 1966. It was then used by several federal agencies. The Combat Air Museum acquired it through military surplus in 1980.

The Museum gave it the name "Kilroy" after a C-47 that took part in the invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Like the original, our Kilroy is painted with invasion markings. The large black and white stripes on the wings and body were designed to clearly identify it to Allied gunners and fighters as a friendly craft. Kilroy is the flagship of the Combat Air Museum fleet. It is displayed as a C-47D of the 88th Troop Carrier Squadron, 438th Troop Carrier Group, which participated in the invasion of Europe on D-Day, June 6, 1944.