That's All... Brother

Great article. There is another D-day C-47 vet that is being restored in Florida. I did the markings drawing for it. I also did a drawing of a C-47 flown by my friend, the late Capt. Don Orcutt. It was 9X-D and he flew four sorties on D-Day towing gliders, delivering ordinance, and para- troopers. he did the same thing for Market garden and returning from his last sortie his airplane was grounded due to so many holes and flak damage.
A lot of untold heroism here.

 

An invasion-striped C-47 from the Cavanaugh Flight Museum, accompanied by three T-6s, did the pre-race fly-by over last evening's IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway. I thought that was a cool thing to do on the anniversary of D-Day!

 

Great cause!

I give to help maintain our local D-Day Bird as well. Here's a brief overview if its history:

• Normandy Invasion
• Operation Market Garden
• Battle of the Bulge
• Operation Varsity—towing infantry troops in two gliders at a time
• Berlin Airlift
• Restored to flight status after a crash-landing in 2001

It’s Hard to Keep an Old Soldier Down - The resurrection of Tico Belle

 

Being a "Been there done that" type, I am appalled at the almost total incorrectness of the markings and finish on "Tico belle". The OD paint was not glossy but flat, the undersurface was not white-gray but 50% neutral gray AND flat, the font for the unit identification numbers is wrong . And here they have a photo of the airplane when it was in service and they can't follow it! For me, this restoration is nothing but a cartoon.

 

Here it is from a few weeks ago... I think it is flat.

While I can't attest to their decisions on the markings and configuration I do know that they've been woefully underfinanced since the beginning. Maybe the "Hollywood" paint job is to attract the masses (I'm just guessing)?
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Wade, I apologize for coming on so strong. To me it's pretty simple to look up factual stuff. There are plenty of resources in documents and old photos but time and again there is money and time wasted on doing the wrong thing that doesn't show what it was really like.

 

Not a problem at all and I'm with you regarding historical accuracy. Next time I'm over there I'll inquire about its next repaint.

 

Here's the C-47 that flew over the racetrack in Texas on Saturday evening.
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Samo- samo. Wrong shiny colors, wrong application with the OD color carried too far down on the fuselage and not far enough on the nacelles, undersurface grey is way too light, the color separation was NEVER taped but dark color was over- sprayed where it met the lighter color, numerals are correct as far as font but the unit I.D. was white. The inside surface of the nacelles was not gloss black, no need since it was FLAT OD. The aircraft individual I.D. on the fin was usually white and only the serial number was high visibility yellow. Doesn't anyone look at photos anymore?

 

Bob, I don't know about the rest (fonts, unit colors, etc.) but is this the grey that you are specifying?
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Yes, that looks correct. I have learned that the new C-46 tanker is painted in that color. All over.

 

That looks like the correct olive also. Not glossy.

 

During the war a few fighter pilots tried waxing their airplanes and found that they got about 5MPH more speed. The flattening substance that was added to the paint actually imparted a roughness to the surface much fine grit sandpaper. The German paints did not have that roughness and the British figured out how to do the same thing and their paints had a slight sheen to them. Their paint specs called, for example, Sky Type S, (Sky Type "Smooth").referring to the under surfaces.

 

That's All . . . Brother kickstarter is on the last day. I'm in, three times, so that my name, dad, and my F-I-L name can be on the plaque on the door.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/caf/save-the-airplane-that-led-the-d-day-invasion