Wednesday, August 25, 2021

C-47 Night Fright flew with the 79th Troop Carrier Squadron, 436th Troop Carrier Group during D-Day, and took part in every other consequential Airborne mission in Europe during WWII, and is most of the way through a restoration that will be competed before 2023

 
The restoration was started with a goal of completion in time to have it flying over France and England for the 75th anniversary of the D Day invasion, things didn't go as planned, and it's still getting parts installed. 

As well as panels, lines, wires and other airplane systems parts, the volunteers are trying to track down all of the original navigation and radio equipment which would give this C-47 that authentic, 1944 look and feel.

In March 2020, this C-47 took part in a TV documentary, Warbird Workshop, which aired on Yesterday TV.

By the end of June 2021, work was all-but-complete on the wings, with all necessary repairs having taken place and the underside of both wings re-skinned. There are a few minor tasks yet to complete: repairs to the right-hand wingtip, the trailing edge sections need fitting and a little bit of skin work post-trailing-edge sections being installed.

Many parts are already overhauled and ready for installation as soon as the time is right – these include the engine cowlings, tailplane, fuel tanks and of course the outer wings.






a C-47 located at Peterborough airport in Ontario, Canada was purchased to obtain some parts that simply couldn’t be found anywhere else, including a cargo floor and a complete set of original paratrooper benches.

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