“When the kids came over in 1944, they didn’t have GPS…they didn’t have 500 hours of time in the cockpit between them,” says Doug Rozendaal, pilot of That’s All Brother, a Douglas C-47 joining the 2019 D-Day Squadron in an epic trip across the Atlantic Ocean this week. He considers his crew very fortunate: Not only did they have advanced tools and weather reporting (and 50,000 hours of experience in the cockpit), but they also didn’t see much of the water during the entire crossing. “We were on top of the clouds nearly the entire way. As an Iowa farmer, it was easy to imagine that there was nothing but cornfields underneath.” The psychological boost he found was incredible.
D-Day Squadron Marks Milestone Atlantic Crossing
Key Takeaways:
- A squadron of a dozen vintage Douglas DC-3/C-47 aircraft is undertaking an epic transatlantic journey to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
- Pilots on this modern crossing benefit from advanced navigation tools and weather reporting, a significant advantage over the conditions faced by original crews in 1944.
- The mission, involving planes like "That's All Brother" and "Clipper Tabitha May," aims to honor those who served and to keep the stories of D-Day alive for future generations.
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