German soldier/gear (picture).

[Harlan (Deceased)]

I maybe over reacted. One reason could have been the I was `requested´ to take part in the Normandy celebrations several years ago, where they needed ex-service geriatrics who were forcibly ejected from a DC3 to commemorate the Pegasus Bridge (and a few other) landings.

I've done many flights in a C-47 as crew chief to commemorate vets Villers, but I STAY IN THE AIRCRAFT!



Most flights are 'Missing Man' flights where one aircraft turns on smoke and peels out of the formation. Not a great photo, but there are four aircraft in formation in front of us lining up to pass over the Veteran's Hospital on Memorial Day. The CAF does it for free every year - you can see the vets are out on the lawn in front of the big hospital when we pass over and the staff tells us it means a lot to the them.



It's very commendable you took place in the jump. Doing some of these things for the vets is a little dangerous at times, but you figure it's nothing compared to what they did for our freedom.

Honestly, I'm not sure I could ever jump unless we were on fire or the wings fell off! We've also dropped parachutists and I would be the loadmaster for them. We wear a harness that's tethered to the inside and can communicate with the pilots up front over the headphones to stage the jumpers and tell them when to jump. I can honestly say that watching those guys (and galls) exiting out the plug whole was surreal looking to me.



The group above were funny. None of them had ever been in a WWII Warbird before and a couple of them admitted they were scared to go up. (And they were wearing parachutes!)