The C-47 that led all the others during D-day flies again.
C-47 Flight Over Oshkosh 2018 - YouTube
https://www.flyingmag.com/c47-thats-...er-restoration
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The C-47 that led all the others during D-day flies again.
C-47 Flight Over Oshkosh 2018 - YouTube
https://www.flyingmag.com/c47-thats-...er-restoration
We should not forget the brave souls that flew these transport planes into a war zone without one iota of defensive armament about all they could do is hope for a cloud to hide in or fly & turn as slow as the Skua did.
My uncle flew the C47 in the CBI theater. Inclement weather was a friend keeping Jap zeros on the ground, and foe because the mountains didn't move out of the way. Pilots made their own charts based on their shared experience. Side arms and maybe a Thompson was what they had.
My Dad used to jump out of them. 11th Airborne, WW2.
Later 42rocker
Amazing that after all the years and changing of hands this one is still in one piece. All the sales and jobs they did, this one wasn't even known about, in its history so the odds of it's survival was astronomical... And here it is.
Just watched that Normandy - then and now series of photos. Notice the Padre taking a small Sunday service under the village cross, with the crunchies and some of the locals. Funny how you never really noticed him, never intrusive, but always there with a smiley face and a few words and a home-made cake at Padres Hour. Ours was Capt Paul Kerr....., known to us all as Saint Paul!!! Down in the dumps, been away a long time, I called to see the padre and told him but he told me not to write home and tell them and promised that he'd do it. Got a letter from my mum a couple of weeks later saying how nice it was to get a letter from the Padre and how pleased she was that I was well, bright and breezy and in good spirits........... The lying little toe-rag!
And here's a photo of That's All Brother landing at Prestwick, Scotland a few days ago after its trip over from the USA, in preparation for the mass DC-3/C-47 formation and mass para drop on the 75th Anniversary of D-Day.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...tyantico-1.jpg
The 'Dak' has to be the greatest aeroplane ever to be built. Of that, there can be no doubt.
One thing to remember about the Transport pilots who flew each of the 'drops' is that most of them were airline pilots only a few short months previously, Many had very limited night flying experience and even less night flying dead-reckoning navigation experience. Remember too, that airborne operations were in their infancy then too. Much of what was done - and is now 'ancient history', was experimental and first time ever.
Yes we hope to be hosting 40 aircraft on the 4/5th June at Duxford, many coming from the States. What a feat of engineering and airmanship for the old birds which would need to be in "nearly new" condition to make it that far and return.
Lets hope they can all make it over for this very special occasion with many lads training as we speak to jump from them to give a great show at several venues in Normandy on the 6th.
Off to the airshow today at Duxford!!:p
Due to the losses suffered by the German airborne troops in the invasion of Crete Herr H forbade any further use of the paratroops in the war...
I think if i ever got an invite for a jump refresher and the opportunity to put my knees to the breeze from a Dakota/C-47, I'd be there in a heart beat. What a fantastic old bird!
Great post!
I grew up very near the local airport well into the jet age but there were a lot of DC3s making regional cargo runs. If I close my eyes I can still here that beautiful sound of those engines on short final. Fell asleep to that sound many a night.
I'm hoping to get to Normandy next week, unsure if I'll catch the celebrations though, but will try, I'll be in the van with the AJS in the back, the van acts as a mobile workshop and camper......... I've a few bits to do on the bike before I leave but plan on using this along the coast searching for bunkers and use the van as a Base.
Sounds like a sound plan. Enjoy the trip for those of us who cannot attend. Perhaps you can post a few photos for the rest of us?Quote:
Originally Posted by bigduke6
Will do HoH, I've just bought another WD bike but unfortunately I don't have time to pick it up, cure the niggles and repaint in time. But it will be ready for next year along with the Matchless. There is a lot to take in on the way down, lots of bunkers etc so would expect plenty of pics.
My father was a bit of a pioneering fellow. He and his team developed methods for detecting marijuana plants from the air for the CIA through infrared photo spectrometry back in the '60s. The plane they used was a C-47 owned by the university he was on the faculty of. They cut a photo well in the floor and he operated the gear with his feet dangling in the slipstream. He developed a friendship with the pilot, Charlie Lockwood, who also flew the school's DC-3 that carried the sports teams to away games and the VIP Aero Commander (that I once hitched a ride on). Charlie was the safest pilot I knew. My dad and the C-47 were invited to Cape Canaveral for the Apollo 13 mission launch. Their job was to orbit, waiting to locate the parts of the spacecraft and hopefully the command module with their gear should there be a catastrophic launch failure. The Aero Commander later went down with our friend the pilot aboard. He stopped for high-octane fuel at a small airport and the rookie fueling operator filled the tanks with JP5. There was enough AVgas left in the tanks (and the JP5 floated on the AVgas) that when Charlie did his test from the fuel cock at the bottom of the tank, what came out was pure AVgas. He got about a mile off the field and the engines started missing. He circled to return to the field but didn't make it. No survivors.
Bob
Great post. The fuel mishaps sounds exactly like the incident that prompted Bob Hoovers development of the "Hoover Nozzle" and almost got him in the same aircraft.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Womack
Thank You for posting
Can I ask something Bob in some of the books I have read they say the fatal thing to do with engines in trouble is to execute a turn back to the airstrip which may induce a spin in, no doubt some pilots have affected the turn with dying engines then again he may have had no choice in the matter if he was over buildings rather than crash into suburbia. RIP to your dads pilot friend and passengers.
I haven't been able to get that much detail out of the published material.
Bob
There are two things about turning aback to the departure runway with an engine out in a multi-engine aircraft. First, turning into the 'dead' engine can - as in almost always - cause a spin since you have less thrust, and therefore, less lift on that wing. Second, and this applies equally to single engine aircraft, you normally take-off into the wind (runways are usually arranged to align with the prevailing winds), to take advantage of 'free' lift provided by the flow of the wind over the wings. Given a 5 Knot wind, it's like having 5 knots more airspeed at take-off. So, turning back to the runway means making and 'upwind' landing. You lose that extra airspeed times two, so that hypothetical 5 knots of wind in the previous example becomes a 5 knot tailwind. With that, say your landing speed is supposed to be 120 knots, your actual airspeed with the 5 knot tailwind is 115 knots and your ground speed is 125 knots. Higher wind speeds obviously could get you close to stall speed. I've seen it happen. That said, I did an upwind/crosswind landing in a Cessna 150 during a simulated engine out on take off once, but it was a calm wind day so airspeed was not a factor.Quote:
Originally Posted by CINDERS
The thing to remember here is that he eventually lost both engines. At that point you are in a so-so glider and have spent a good amount of time and flight energy trying to diagnose the problem. Charlie was literally the safest guy I ever personally flew with. I was there once when he rehearsed single-engine flight characteristics of the Commander in flight, at altitude. He was the kind of guy who did the same pre-flight after a five-minute ferry flight as he would after a two-hour mission. I saw his fuel check several times, including after a ferry flight. It was never perfunctory. This was when I was learning to fly so I was watching. I was sorry to see him go.
Bob
Flying is a potentially dangerous activity as all of us who fly, or have flown, know too well. We've all lost friends to aircraft accidents or mishaps that were not their doing. I had a mate with thousands of hours die when his student botched a engine out landing. Too sadly, it happens to the best all too often. It's the same with skydiving. I lost a mate with over 500 jumps killed when he had a bag wrap during a low opening freefall jump.