Yes, but doesn’t this discussion revolve around creating a Wellington from known remains?

You are misunderstanding what I’m getting at. It was certainly NOT normal – but equally, there seems to be some secondary evidence that removing all the doors for paradrops is not unknown…

Yes I was, apollogies:o
I have just reread your post and I can now see what you mean.

Just to reiterate what I said way back at post #15,

The C-47 Skytrain and Dakota has two large cargo doors, both the forward and aft doors hinge outwards and both are removable on the ground for loading larger freight and can be left removed for air dropping – though that seems quite rare.
The forward cargo door has within it a smaller removable door panel (you can see the grab handles in KN pics) which during flight can be unlatched, lifted upwards and inwards, and stowed out of the way for paratroop drops.

So I’m aware of the flexibility in the door arrangement, and have always stressed that I think that the normal (ie not absolutely exclusively) paratroop exit procedure is simply the removal of that inset door panel* – it was probably that post that resulted in the posting of that dodgy skydiving pic!

Thanks to JB for posting the extract above, that and Aeronut & Oscar Ducks posts confirm the opertaing proceedures nicely.
I’m also mindfull that whenever aircraft, Air forces, Army and troops come together there can be all sorts of non standard approaches conjured up to get on with the task at hand!:eek:

*Oxford English Dictionary definition of door, ‘a hinged, sliding, or revolving barrier at the entrance to a building, room, or vehicle, or in the framework of a cupboard.’
More correctly I’m thinking that the C-47 has a removable panel as opposed to door.

Skysport Westland Wallace?

According to the excellent Barry Jones article and colour three view in Aeroplane Monthly May 1995 it looks to be a Medium or Dark Sea Grey, or the standard grey used in camoflage of the era.
Undersides were yellow of course.

Isn’t that more of a reproduction than a bringing together of major airframe componants?

CD it may seem improbable to you, but it was the most common (& recommended) way that it was operated for para dropping and was suitable for task, the door maybe smaller than the orifice left when the cargo door is removed but it was still big enough for the job. The exit wouldn’t have existed if it was deemed as unsuitable.
Many images even show the main cargo doors and their hinges heavily covered in tape etc to help avoid snagging when leaving the dedicated para exit.

This image shows the norm for paratroop and smaller para supply drops

I’m with you on this, a bad decission.

Nice post exmpa, the Shackleton does seem to have a high crew loss record, but in the majority of cases the accidents can be attributed to bad SOPs & dangerous operating environments rather than any inherent weaknesses with the aircraft and crews.
The fact that the crew often numbered ten or more and there was little chance of abandoning the aircraft in many of the scenerios compounded the problem.