Sure, they could have... could you imagine what could have been had the military and congress not been so skeptical and afraid of air transportation when it came to troops. The U.S. blew its chance back in early '42 when Kaiser and Hughs wanted to build the Hercules... had they gotten fully behind the idea instead of restricting materials used and considering it as a crazy idea. Things would have been very different. It would have been completed well within the time frame of D-Day. With a capacity of 750 fully armed troops instead of the C-47's messily 28, and once we had air superiority it could have easily landed battalions behind enemy lines using Frances larger lakes and bays. Germany wasn't expecting invasion by air, even though they had made great use of large transports themselves. Throughout all of WW2 the U.S. was far superior in ability to manufacture in great numbers. But was drastically outclassed in technology and the willingness to follow-through with ideas that they stooped to using manpower in ways as it it was still the civil war.
Phil
