The U.S. Navy R4D version of the C-47 carried two banks of JATO bottles, mounted nine or ten bottles per bank under the fuselage. Commander 'Trigger' Hawkes fired off the lot when he lifted R4D
Que Sera Sera off the ice at the South Pole in order to free the undercarriage and get her rolling. The consort that had orbited overhead during that first, short visit reported that 'there was an explosion of flames, smoke and ice and that bird just took off and flew'. Only damage done was to one of the 'snow-shoe' plates fitted around the mainwheels - and the nerves of all who watched.

all 'Frozen Flyers' everywhere.
The C-47 gunship didn't appear until the early 1960s, when it was developed to take on the Vietcong. It was codenamed 'Spooky' or 'Puff the Magic Dragon'.