Our first dinner meeting of the new year on January 15 started off with a fascinating presentation of the adventurous trip of DC-3 Flabob Express' trip from Riverside's Flabob Airport in May 2019 to the cliffs of Normandy, France to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day on June 6 plus the 70th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift. The total U.S. based DC-3 planes making the trip numbered 14.The crew of the Flabob Express spent many months preparing for this historic trip, with private and corporate donations making it possible. The Flabob Express touched down in seven different counties, each with their own unique set of logistical and aviation challenges. Those countries included: the United States of America, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the United Kingdom, France and Germany.
The crew faced numerous challenges including weather, broken airplane parts, lots of bureaucratic paperwork plus learning to deal with the private European air traffic control system. Unfortunately, a broken carburetor in England caused the Flabob Express to miss the June 6 festivities in France, but they joined up with the group a couple of days later. After all anniversary celebrations, the Flabob Express and the other planes safely made the journey back to the U.S.
The Flabob Express Box Score:
6.5 Weeks, 98 hours flown, 9,500 gallons avgas, 70 gallons oil, two flat struts, six bad intake tubes, two bad generators, one bad carburetor, 13 border crossings and two North Atlantic crossings.
Thank you so much to our presenter Bill Tymczyszyn, one of the crew on this historic trip, for sharing this adventure with us.