As part of the 75th anniversary of the D Day invasion of Nazi held Europe in 1944, Douglas DC3s, C47s and Dakotas came from around the world to reenact the Airborne troops parachute drops that first put Allied boots on the ground. In this second part of the story, I chat to Sherman Smoot, Betsy’s Chief Pilot and Nick Comacho, a pilot of the C47, Betsy’s Biscuit Bomber.
Nick does some work on Betsy before taking her up on her next flight.
Nick’s father takes a look around Betsy before her next flight.
The reenactment paratroops embark before their flight over Duxford.
Intro/outro Music, Coffee Fund theme music by Geoff Smith thegeoffsmith.com Dr. Steph’s intro music by Nevil Bounds Capt Nick’s intro music by Kevin from Norway (aka Kevski)
Doh De Oh by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100255 Artist: http://incompetech.com/
Intro/outro Music, Coffee Fund theme music by Geoff Smith thegeoffsmith.com Dr. Steph’s intro music by Nevil Bounds Capt Nick’s intro music by Kevin from Norway (aka Kevski)
Doh De Oh by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100255 Artist: http://incompetech.com/
As part of the 75th anniversary of the D Day invasion of Nazi held Europe in 1944, Douglas DC3s, C47s and Dakotas came from around the world to reenact the Airborne troops parachute drops that first put Allied boots on the ground. In this interview I chat to Nick Comacho, a pilot of the C47, Betsy’s Biscuit Bomber, that had flown over from the States to Duxford in England to take part.
Refuelling the C47 prior to a flight from Duxford.
The weather at Duxford was a trifle damp at times.
The reenactment parachutists gear up prior to getting airborne.
Betsy’s Biscuit Bomber fires up.
A wonderful array of vintage aircraft… quite a sight to see.
I take another dip into my flying log book, RAF Form 414. We catch up with the young ‘Old Pilot’ as he joins his first operational squadron, No 43(F) Sqn, The Fighting Cocks! I was faced with a further 6 months of training to become a fully Combat Ready fighter pilot. Relying on my faltering memory I said that the jamming Canberras were on 100 Sqn… they were, of course, actually from No 360 Squadron!
The F4 Phantoms of The Fighting Cocks.
Air to Air refuelling.
The Q shed at RAF Leuchars.
My flying suit badges including the treasured Squadron patch that was only worn by combat ready aircrew.
