The first aircraft I ever flew in was a DC-3. It was a flight from a summer camp near Keen, New Hampshire to La Guardia field in New York. My father had picked up my brother and I and we all flew back home on that delightful airplane. My brother and I were even allowed to visit the pilot and copilot in the cockpit … not something that occurs anymore … even for 7 and 8 year olds.
Anyway I have a soft spot in my heart for that aircraft including its military version and noticed this story in the Times today. I thought some of you guys & gals might be interested.
Wow, that’s awesome they found the plane and are going to restore it! I’m hoping to have the oppurtunity to take a flight in the C-47 that led the second wave on D-Day. “Whiskey 7” I’m going to build a model of her as well.
Me and my daughter with Whiskey 7 last summer at the annual air show in Geneseo.
I, too bought the Airfix kit of the C-47 Skytrain and have planned on doing “Whiskey 7” as well. Trouble is finding the correct size of the W 7 and the number 37 for a 1/72 scale kit.
The last time I saw her was back in 2015 at the Rochester Air Show. Paid for my son the opportunity to get on board. I’ve been wanting to head out to Geneseo to their Air Museum for quite some time. Hmmm… maybe a trip to their air show is in order this year.
I plan on making my own decals when I get around to it. My issue is the colors of the plane currently. I sent a message to the museum a few weeks ago about it, and they said they would look into it. You can clearly tell she is not the standard OD. The top of the fuselage looks to be a reddish brown color, the rest of it some shade of dark brown.
I will be attending the air show there this year, and hopefully be taking a flight!
There is also a show right here in the Falls this year featuring the USAF Thunderbirds, the Canadian Snowbirds, and the F-22 Raptor Demo team. I’m sure Whiskey will make an appearance as a static display, she did in 2015.
My sister and I did the same. We did it in honor of our grandfather who was a radio operator on them during WWII. We got the hats, pin, and they put my grandfathers name on the manifest. It was pretty cool. Glad we did it.
LOL! I hear ya. I get requests for everything from aircraft to ships now. I can’t fund everything, but they are for good causes. History needs to be preserved.
There are a number of C-47s and DC-3s still flying. There is one in Yipsilanty MI at Willow Run Airport, along with a B-17G and a B-25. I got to jump out of a C-47 a few years ago when one of the WWII and Korean War jumpers got ill. I volunteered to take his place in the demonstration drop. Had I known we were jumping the old military T-10 parachutes I might have kept my mouth shut. Jumping from the C-47 was different than jumping from the C-130 or the C-141, but the landing with the T-10 was the same, HARD. These old bones were sore for a month. After that jump and landing I have accepted the fact that I have gotten old. The best part of the event was the ride in the C-47. Being accepted by the other jumpers was a special treat and an honor. If you like airplanes a ride in a C-47 or DC-3 is a fantastic treat. It is a venerable old bird.
The 1/48th Monogram kit is a very nice kit, as is the Airfix kit in 1/72nd scale.
