Clifton's (War) Cargo Masters and the Second World War

The year 1938 started out with a bang for the Clifton Firm, with it's number of employees, although rather nimble, still increasing with each day. The firm's sole DC-3 finally took to the skies after a series of necessary checks after spending most of it's life grounded. The plane's first route was from Austin to Dallas, with the DC-3 quickly earning the nickname of "Dallas Wonder". The Clifton Firm was still rather cautious about taking their only plane above the skies of Texas, however, and the DC-3 took no time to come back to Austin.

On December 27th, 1938, the firm's signature plane was parked in the apron of Robert Mueller Municipal Airport after a training session with a group of maintenance workers hired by American Airlines was finished. On the distance, a Beechcraft Model 17 "Staggerwing" was preparing for an unplanned landing after a series of errors with the engine and the ailerons were reported mid-air. However, as the Staggerwing approached the runway, a Beechcraft Model 18 crossed it after a series of miscommunications with the tower. Upon taking sight of the Beech 18, the crew of the Staggerwing attempted to throttle up and climb to attempt a go-around, but the same issues that were reported earlier resulted in an aerodynamic stall, and consequently, one of it's wings drooped towards the municipal airport's main apron.
The crew of the Beech 17 struggled to try and save their plane, but soon after the drooped wing struck a parked Boeing 247 belonging to Boeing Air Transport (United Airlines), sending the now-uncontrollable plane directly towards the Clifton Firm's only plane.
The Beech 17 tore through the plane's tail, ripping it off of the plane's main fuselage with a rapid, fiery burst.

Marshals and even workers of the Clifton Firm rushed to the scene of the incident. Other employees working for Boeing Air Transport also assisted, albeit focused on their damaged Boeing 247. The tail belonging to the DC-3 was thrown almost 30 meters away from the fuselage, and the Model 17 Staggerwing involved in the crash was almost completely vaporized and destroyed aside from the main fuselage, the cockpit and parts of the engine. The crew of the Staggerwing survived with serious injuries after being stuck on the burning plane for almost three minutes. No one was on board the Boeing 247 or the Douglas DC-3 at the time of the incident, however there was a problem: The Clifton Firm had it's sole plane critically damaged. There was almost no hope for it after the fire resulting from the crash was extinguished; Jerry Clifton was deeply shaken just by the sight of the three damaged planes, but that was that. The Clifton Firm had lost it's only plane.

...However, there was some hope. And that hope was in the shape of a global conflict.

December 7th, 1941. The japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was the last straw for the United States, and it soon caused their entry into the Second World War. All branches were mobilized, and it seemed that the Clifton Firm was finally given an opportunity to shine. At the request of Franklin D. Roosevelt himself, the nimble firm was recognized for it's excellent craftsmanship and management, and given a chance to operate and perform maintenance on the aircraft of one of the largest air forces in the world.
With the large number of new C-47's, the Clifton Firm was able to acquire a fuselage used for spare parts, and soon used it to masterfully pierce back the firm's sole DC-3 in a feat that would be considered impossible by the standards of that time. Now an amalgation of the civilian DC-3 and the military C-47, 122312 was modified to have the full capability of a C-47 and was assigned into a few select troop squadrons for rigorous testing, but it only joined a definitive squadron, the 87th Troop Carrier Squadron, in 1943, from which it reprised it's "Dallas Wonder" nickname. From then on, the Clifton Firm would go on to officially become Clifton's Cargo Masters for the remaining duration of WW2, and their excellence in maintenance and transport became evident to other airmen. A C-54 partly owned by the Clifton Firm took part in the Pacific theater of the war, known as "The Name's Jerry!" as a reference to the Clifton Firm's founder, Jerry Clifton.

Eventually, the Dallas Wonder would go on to be one of the C-47's dropping paratroopers in Operation Overlord, and subsequently the liberation of France from Germany. After the end of the war, Jerry Clifton's small firm in Austin would go on to become something completely different after 1945. With the Cold War now on everyone's doorstep and with the first Atomic Bomb being sent over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, what is there to do when there is no true peaceful outcome?