With the upcoming 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion fast approaching, there are several planned events, one of which is to fly multiple Douglas C-47's over Normandy on June 6th.

<http://ddaysquadron.org/c-47/>


For those of you that are familiar with the History Channel show Ice Pilots Joe's son Mikey has identified a C-47 that flew on D-Day and operation Market Garden that has been sitting for years at Montreal's Saint-Hubert airport. He has put together a group of volunteers who are trying to get the airplane airworthy by June 6th to join D-day commemorations in Canada.

<https://www.planesavers.com/>

<https://twitter.com/planesavers?lang=en>

Mikey does a daily youtube update on the progress of the work involved to get it flying again. Not fancy or slick production, but you can tell everyone is enthusiastic about the task at hand.


<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvFNTUDikuXwaoFE45bq4Xg>


More C-47 stuff about D-Day

<https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/crowdsourcing-saves-ddays-first-airplane-180955983/>

The Army toasts their SkyTrain now in lousy scotch and soda,
The Tommies raise their tankards high to cheer their old Dakota,
Some claim the C-47's best, or the gallant R4D,
Forget that claim, they're all the same, the noble DC-3.

THEY PATCH HER UP WITH MASKING TAPE,
WITH PAPER CLIPS AND STRINGS,
AND STILL SHE FLIES, SHE NEVER DIES.
METHUSELAH WITH WINGS.

Douglas built the ship to last, but nobody expected,
The crazy heap would fly and fly no matter how they wrecked it.
While nations fall and men retire and jets get obsolete,
The Gooney Bird flies on and on, at 11,000 feet.

Some years back, I was told that no DC-3/C-47 had ever suffered a structural failure. They had been shot down, blown up, lost engines, you name it, but never fell apart like so many other aircraft.

Back in the late 1960's, my college room mate's father, a WWII veteran, was flying a C-47 for the FAA and I got to share a day with him -- even got about 20 minutes right seat time!

The C-47 landed on the Mains, despite being a tail dragger. At the end of the day's duties, Deke touched down on the Mains, made the first turn-off, then left on the taxiway, right to Butler Aviation, left to the plane's assigned tiedown spot, and revved and shut down both engines. Then he gently lowered it onto the tailwheel!

He was pretty accomplished with a P-51 and B-29 as well, but this was the only time I was able to fly with him, and also my only time in a C-47. After 50 years, still a vivid memory.

Deke went west about 22 years ago. I suspect Nan-12 is still flying somewhere under a different number.

As a kid, my house was in the flight path for WPAFB. Gooney Birds every day. Loved the sound.

I have 3 takeoffs and landings in a DC3. It was a very humbling experience for sure. Thankfully, someone invented the nose wheel

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
The Army toasts their SkyTrain now in lousy scotch and soda,
The Tommies raise their tankards high to cheer their old Dakota,
Some claim the C-47's best, or the gallant R4D,
Forget that claim, they're all the same, the noble DC-3.

THEY PATCH HER UP WITH MASKING TAPE,
WITH PAPER CLIPS AND STRINGS,
AND STILL SHE FLIES, SHE NEVER DIES.
METHUSELAH WITH WINGS.

Douglas built the ship to last, but nobody expected,
The crazy heap would fly and fly no matter how they wrecked it.
While nations fall and men retire and jets get obsolete,
The Gooney Bird flies on and on, at 11,000 feet.

I like that!

quote:

Originally posted by 4x5:

I like that!

I can't remember who the singer was, but I heard that song back in the 1960s.