Post by jerryfmcompushaft on Mar 23, 2014 10:01:00 GMT -5
A US aircraft that took part in the D-Day landings will again drop paratroopers over France as part of the 70th anniversary commemorations.
The restored Douglas C-47 transport plane, known as Whiskey 7, is displayed in the US National Warplane Museum in New York and has been invited to Europe to mark the anniversary in June.
The plane will make the journey over a series of shorter flights landing in Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland, Scotland and Germany before flying over Sainte-Mere-Eglise near Normandy.
Museum officials believe the plane is the only C-47 still flying and compared the journey to France to trying to drive a 70-year-old car thousands of miles without a breakdown.
Erin Vitale, chairwoman of the Return to Normandy Project, said: "It's going to be a huge challenge.
"There are very few of these planes still flying, and this plane was very significant on D-Day. It dropped people that were some of the first into Sainte-Mere-Eglise and liberated that town."
www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/d-day-landings-aircraft-to-stopover-in-scotland-as-part-of-70th-anniversary-commemora.1395584419?utm_source=www.heraldscotland.com&utm_medium=RSS%20Feed&utm_campaign=Scottish%20News
The restored Douglas C-47 transport plane, known as Whiskey 7, is displayed in the US National Warplane Museum in New York and has been invited to Europe to mark the anniversary in June.
The plane will make the journey over a series of shorter flights landing in Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland, Scotland and Germany before flying over Sainte-Mere-Eglise near Normandy.
Museum officials believe the plane is the only C-47 still flying and compared the journey to France to trying to drive a 70-year-old car thousands of miles without a breakdown.
Erin Vitale, chairwoman of the Return to Normandy Project, said: "It's going to be a huge challenge.
"There are very few of these planes still flying, and this plane was very significant on D-Day. It dropped people that were some of the first into Sainte-Mere-Eglise and liberated that town."
www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/d-day-landings-aircraft-to-stopover-in-scotland-as-part-of-70th-anniversary-commemora.1395584419?utm_source=www.heraldscotland.com&utm_medium=RSS%20Feed&utm_campaign=Scottish%20News
