Wife's Christmas Present to Me...

BevoJoe

BevoJoe

10,000+ Posts
She managed o get me a ride on a WWII vintage C-47 transport tonight. That is one of my favorite aircraft and was a real workhorse carrying everything from supplies to airborne assault troops. I love the drone of the two 1,200 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engines are a great sound. I have ridden in the commercial version, the DC-3, but this one is exactly like the troops would have experienced it, no insulation, benches not seats, and loud! Can't wait! Best present I've received ever!
 
BevoJoe said:
She managed o get me a ride on a WWII vintage C-47 transport tonight. That is one of my favorite aircraft and was a real workhorse carrying everything from supplies to airborne assault troops. I love the drone of the two 1,200 horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engines are a great sound. I have ridden in the commercial version, the DC-3, but this one is exactly like the troops would have experienced it, no insulation, benches not seats, and loud! Can't wait! Best present I've received ever!
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Very nice gift Joe. I am jealous. You should go to an Army Navy store today, find a vintage WWII parachute with a static line you can hook up and jump out of that sucker at 5000 feet like the GI's did!
 
WorsterMan said:
Very nice gift Joe. I am jealous. You should go to an Army Navy store today, find a vintage WWII parachute with a static line you can hook up and jump out of that sucker at 5000 feet like the GI's did!
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That would be cool!! But I haven't jumped in nearly 40 years.
 
The C-47 is the plane my dad dropped parrot troopers from, on D-Day and many other missions in WWII. He was a member of the 81st Squadron, in the 436th Troop Carrier Group.

A picure of his plane is on his tombstone. This is what it looked like.

paratroopers.jpg


Dad said this scene from "Band of Brothers," was pretty accurrate on what happened on D-Day during his two missions. Only 47% of the planes sent out came back, most of those, including my Dad's, were shot up pretty bad.



 
Ok, paratroopers, I hurt my right hand winching a boat up last Saturday. The strap came unlocked and the winch handle nearly broke my hand.

It's pretty swollen. I got a phone call and didn't proof read the post, in time to change it.

Typing is hard and painful, sue me. :smile1:
 
NBHorn7 said:
Ok, paratroopers, I hurt my right hand winching a boat up last Saturday. The strap came unlocked and the winch handle nearly broke my hand.

It's pretty swollen. I got a phone call and didn't proof read the post, in time to change it.
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No big deal, made me laugh. There is nobody here at work today......accept me. But I'm leaving early as if it matters. Have a great Christmas!
 
NBHorn7 said:
The C-47 is the plane my dad dropped parrot troopers from, on D-Day and many other missions in WWII. He was a member of the 81st Squadron, in the 436th Troop Carrier Group.

A picure of his plane is on his tombstone. This is what it looked like.

paratroopers.jpg


Dad said this scene from "Band of Brothers," was pretty accurrate on what happened on D-Day during his two missions. Only 47% of the planes sent out came back, most of those, including my Dad's, were shot up pretty bad.
Click to expand...


My grandfather trained pilots before and during the war. When I was a kid he had access to some cool planes that he would take me up in and show/explain the moves to evade or shoot down the opponent. I went with him in a training model of the Messerschmitt Bf 109, Focke-Wulf 190D, P-51 Mustang, and a Grumman F6F Hellcat. I don't know how many of those are still flying. Those were some fun times!
 
Congratulations on a great Christmas present.

When I was in Boy Scouts, probably around 1957, our troop took a DC-3 plane trip from Love Field, Dallas to Amon Carter Field, Fort Worth, and back. My first plane ride and one of the great field trips of my childhood.
 
OK Joe - believe you said you took the ride last evening... we need feedback, a link or photos - you know around here in the olden days HF posters would say the post was worthless without pics!!!
 
WorsterMan said:
OK Joe - believe you said you took the ride last evening... we need feedback, a link or photos - you know around here in the olden days HF posters would say the post was worthless without pics!!!
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I'll post some pics as soon as I can get them up loaded. It was a cool flight. Really had a cool time!
 
Hey NB, my Dad was radio operator on those DDay drops. Said he was never so scared. Then they did the support runs, carrying the wounded to Italy and England, never so sad. Said it got so he couldn't go back and talk to the boys, he would always cry.....yeah that was my dad. But he has always been my hero.
 
Dad did troop drops all over France, Holland, and Germany. He said his favorite mission was the drops of supplies and ammo for the relief of Bastogne.

He knew how rough it was there, for the men. They kept waiting for the weather to clear, so they could fly. When it finally did,they got up as soon as they could and dropped supplies most of the day.

Then Patton showed up, with his tanks and they pushed the Germans back into Germany. It got pretty dicey, if the Germans had been able to break through and retake the port of Antwerp, it could have changed the outcome of the war.
 
My grandfather flew C-47s in the Pacific during WW2. He never talked about it much, but it wasn't from anything traumatic, he just seemed to think all he did was shuttle people back and forth behind the front lines and nothing exciting really happened, it was just a job to him.
 
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