BBMF’s vintage C-47 Dakota to be supported for many more years by Marshall Aerospace
UK engineering firm Marshall Aerospace has just won a major contract in support of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Douglas C-47 Dakota. The multi-year deal will expand the firm’s current support services for the vintage aircraft, paving the way for the company to take on new responsibilities as the coordinating design organisation (CDO) for the plane.
Marshall Aerospace appointed CDO for the BBMF C-47
Announced on 16 June, the agreement will see Cambridge-based Marshall Aerospace take a leading role in the ongoing maintenance and repair work to be carried out on ZA947, the Douglas C-47 Dakota Mk III training and display aircraft owned by the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) division.
Marshall Aerospace originally began its involvement with the aircraft back in 2009. Since then, the company has designed repairs and modifications for the aircraft, as well as responding to technical queries and conducting inspections.
Aldo Bidini / Wikimedia Commons
According to a company statement, transitioning into the role of CDO will lead to more direct involvement by Marshall as the central organisation accountable for maintaining the master aircraft design.
The work will also involve recommending the classification of major and minor changes and ensuring the ongoing safety and airworthiness of all systems on board the aircraft.
“Aligning an 84-year-old airframe with modern standards is a complex engineering challenge, but Marshall has previously served the RAF in a design authority role for multiple fixed-wing aircraft types, including the C-130K and C-130J Hercules, L-1011 TriStar, and E-3D Sentry AWACS,” added the statement.
Marshall Aerospace was also a partner in the design authority that kept a former RAF Vulcan bomber airworthy until 2015.
Marshall’s already has extensive experience with ZA947
Marshall’s existing expertise with ZA947 was developed even further throughout the aircraft’s recent extensive major maintenance programme. Between 2022 and 2025, the aircraft underwent an intensive period of overhaul and maintenance to ensure its serviceability for the coming years.
During this time, the aircraft was entrusted to the Aircraft Restoration Company (ARCo) at Duxford Airfield near Cambridge and remained there for almost three years while the extensive work was carried out.
During the overhaul, significant additional issues were discovered, including corrosion, fatigue cracking and other airframe repairs, which extended the schedule beyond what had originally been planned.
It finally returned to its base at RAF Coningsby in August 2025 after successfully completing post-maintenance test flights at Duxford.
Working with the rest of the BBMF project team, along with ARCo and representatives from Boeing, Marshall Aerospace conducted inspections, recommended repair and replacement options, and supported the procurement of parts.
What does becoming CDO for ZA947 mean for Marshall Aerospace?
The appointment of Marshall Aerospace as CDO for both Dakota ZA947 and other similar work in the past has been facilitated by Marshall Aerospace’s long-held status as an approved organisation under the UK Military Aviation Authority (MAA) Design Approved Organisation Scheme (DAOS).
Holding DAOS status means that Marshall is formally recognised for its competence to undertake and control military aircraft design work, in addition to simply carrying out maintenance or manufacturing activity.
For the RAF and the BBMF specifically, Marshall will be able to design and certify repairs and modifications, respond authoritatively to technical and airworthiness questions, and act as a trusted design partner in sustaining complex aircraft safely and effectively through service.
“We are delighted to renew and strengthen our excellent working relationship with BBMF by stepping up our support for such an important, valuable aircraft, “ said Mark Hewer, Director of Aero Engineering Services at Marshall Aerospace.
Hewer added that the appointment of Marshall Aerospace to this role was a testament to the company’s “long-standing engineering expertise”, which ranges from acting as a Lockheed Martin centre of excellence for the C-130 transport aircraft to the development of the next generation in drone technology.
A brief history of BBMF Dakota ZA947
The C-47 Skytrain and C-53 Skytrooper were military versions of the DC-3 airliner. The DC3 first flew in 1935 and was ordered by America’s airlines. With the outbreak of war, these aircraft were diverted to the Allied air forces, followed by 10,000 military variants constructed before production ceased in 1946.
The first of over 1,900 Dakotas received by the RAF arrived in India in 1942. Dakotas served in every theatre of the war, notably in Burma, during the D-Day landings and the airborne assault on Arnhem in 1944.
Constructed in 1942 by Douglas Aircraft Company, ZA947 was initially adopted by the RAF Strike Command. Named ‘Kwicherbichen’ by her crews, the aircraft conducted paradropping operations on the eve of D-Day, plus missions to evacuate casualties and resupply forces.
Most RAF Dakotas had been retired or sold by 1950, the last active aircraft leaving the service in 1970. The Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough operated ZA947 from 1971 until 1993, when it joined the BBMF at RAF Coningsby.
Since then, not only has ZA947 served as an important multi-engine tailwheel training asset, including the training of pilots and aircrew for the BBMF’s Lancaster bomber, but it is also a sought-after display aircraft and a flying memorial to all RAF personnel who flew and operated these unarmed transport aircraft during times of conflict
Featured image: BBMF
