C-47 Skytrain touches down at Ramstein
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- Nearly 70 years after it took part in D-Day operations on June 6, 1944, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain plane returned to mainland Europe and landed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, May 26, 2014.
The C-47, known as Whiskey 7, took off nearly two weeks ago from Geneseo, New York, on a 3,600-mile, transatlantic flight to participate in 70th Anniversary celebrations in Normandy, France. But first, the plane and its crew are at Ramstein for a week to participate in base activities with its legacy unit, the 37th Airlift Squadron. While in Normandy, the aircraft will recreate its role and drop paratroopers over the original drop zone in Sainte-Mere Eglise, France.
Whiskey 7 was assigned to the 37th Troop Carrier Squadron as the lead aircraft for the unit. The unit departed RAF Cottesmore, England, and flew the second wave for the airborne invasion of Normandy, dropping elements of the 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division on Drop Zone "O" near Sainte-Mere Eglise.
The C-47 rolled off the Douglas Aircraft assembly line in Long Beach, Calif., in September 1943.
The 37th Airlift Squadron draws its lineage from the 37th TCS, and is part of the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein. The unit operates C-130J Super Hercules aircraft and continues the tradition of theater airlift started by the 37th TCS.
The C-47 will be available for public viewing on Ramp 2-5 by the 37th Airlift Squadron from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, and 1 to 4 p.m. May 30.