MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. -- Marine Corps Air Station Miramar is home to a unique, legendary aircraft of Marine Corps transport operations.

Retired after a long career of proud service in the skies over Korea, Japan and the Republic of the Philippines, the last Douglas R4D-8/C-117D "Skytrain" to fly a mission for the Marine Corps - serial number 50835 - now rests atop a small hill overlooking Mills Park at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.

"The aircraft is essentially a reworked DC-3 that included a strengthened fuselage, new horizontal and vertical tail surfaces with square tips, squared wings tips, smoother engine nacelles with doors that completely enclosed the landing gear and two 1,495 horsepower Wright R-1820-80 Cyclone radial piston engines," according to Tom O'Hara, curator, Flying Leatherneck Aviation Foundation and Museum, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, who manages available information on the various retired aircraft at Miramar. "This aircraft was initially delivered as an R4D-6 on Dec. 28, 1944. It was sent to Santa Monica, Calif., and upgraded to the R4D-8 configuration and redelivered in 1952. It has served with (Fleet Logistic Support Squadron) 1, VR-3, VR-4, VR-13, (Headquarters and Maintenance Squadron 17), Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron 1 and MCAS Iwakuni, Japan. It was retired in 1982 with a total of 23,316 hours."

Taking off on a Sunday morning from MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, June 27, 1982, "835" flew what was the final C-117D mission following a flight to Cubi Point in the Republic of the Philippines, an event later recounted in the July 2, 1982 issue of MCAS Iwakuni's "Torii Teller."

For the flight, then Col. S.F. Shea and Capt. L.L. Larson piloted the aircraft, with Aviation Storekeeper First Class Ron Mellon as the crew chief.

When they landed, it marked the end of an era in Marine Corps aviation history.

O'Hara explained how the C-117D, also known as the R4D-8/C, achieved its designation.

"Prior to the adoption of the tri-service system in 1962, the Department of the Navy used its own aircraft designations that were completely different from the U.S. Army Air Corps and later U.S. Air Force that designated the aircraft the C-47 Dakota," said O'Hara. "The Navy system consisted of five parts: one or two letters to indicate the function of the aircraft, a sequence number to distinguish between aircraft of the same function built by the same manufacturer, a letter to indicate the manufacturer, an additional number after a dash to indicate a subtype and a final letter to indicate a minor variation on a subtype, thus R4D-8/C in the case of '835' here at Miramar."

Pilots and aircrew of the R4D have considered the aircraft to be one of the most reliable and enjoyable to fly, according to Maj. Lee A. Cracknell, C-12 operations officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, MCAS Iwakuni, who has been collecting data on the various C-117 crews stationed at Iwakuni.

In 1962, the R4D was designated the C-117D, because the Defense Department ordered that all Air Force, Army and Navy (to include Marine Corps) aircraft be designated under a common, universal system to help achieve greater commonality between services, according to www.globalsecurity.org.

A celebrated military version of the famous World War II-era DC-3, also known as the "Gooney Bird," the Douglas "Skytrain" first began its service as a commercial air transport in the late 1930s.

"The R4D-8/C-117D configuration was based on the 1935 design of the Douglas DC-3 transport," according to O'Hara. "Douglas reconfigured the DC-3 to better serve the military mission and the C-47/R4D was produced. Over 10,000 were built to serve all the nations of the Allied forces during World War II. Versions of the DC-3/R4D/C-47 have served with almost every air force in the world, including Russia, the Imperial Japanese Army and Nazi Germany. After World War II, there was a proposal to replace the R4D/C-47. Douglas decided to improve the R4D/C-47 by stretching the fuselage by 35 inches, adding new wings and tail and changing the engine to the lighter more powerful Wright R-1820 from the R-1830."

Of the models ultimately constructed for the military, 568 of them went to the Navy who put its R4Ds to immediate use after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor by establishing the Naval Air Transport Service and equipped three transport squadrons with the "Skytrain" for flights between mainland United States and various points overseas. Thirteen NATS squadrons were eventually equipped with the R4D.

With a long history of service, C-117Ds like "835" have achieved operational distinction while performing a variety of missions from employing radar countermeasures using special electronic equipment, air-sea warfare training, navigation training and as troop carriers for Marine paratroopers. More notably, in January 1947, a flight of six R4Ds took off from the deck of USS Philippine Sea as part of Operation Highjump, marking the first carrier take-off for the R4D.

During the Korean War, the R4D-8 or C-117D was operated by the Marine Corps to drop flares in night close air support missions. Later, in 1956, a Navy R4D landed on the ice at the South Pole to deliver the first expedition to stand at that spot since Royal Navy Captain Robert Falcon Scott reached it in 1912, according to the National Museum of Aviation Web site.

Although "835" now resides in the collective bone-yard of obsolete military aircraft, its lineage of service remains an indelible part of Marine Corps and Naval aviation history.