WW2: D-Day plane restorers aim to fly by end of year

A group restoring a World War Two plane that took part in D-Day says it is making progress despite the pandemic.

Night Fright, a C47 Dakota transport aircraft, was based at Bottesford in Leicestershire during the war.

After decades of flying it was rescued from a scrap yard in the US after being spotted on Google Earth and brought to Coventry Airport.

Owner Charlie Walker says the full team is back for the first time in 12 months and hopes it can fly again this year.

Night Fright flew two missions on D-Day in 1944 and was hit more than 100 times.

After repairs, it helped keep the troops in Normandy supplied and evacuated the wounded.

The aircraft also served during Operation Market Garden and relieved troops during the Germans' Ardennes offensive.

After the war, Night Fright flew thousands of hours in the US and Europe as a training and cargo plane.

In 2012, the Walker family, owners of the Membury estate in Berkshire, enlisted expert help to find Night Fright as it had also flown from Membury airfield during the conflict.

It was on the verge of being scrapped when it was spotted on the edge of an old airfield in Arkansas by a collector using Google Earth.

Father and son, Philip and Charlie Walker, then purchased the aircraft and it was taken to Florida where restoration began.

It was eventually shipped to Coventry in 2016 where a new team continued its restoration.

"For me it is living, breathing history," said Charlie Walker.

"You can read about something in a book but there is nothing like touching it, feeling it, sitting in it and flying in it."

Despite losing about a year to the pandemic, work has restarted on the 10-year project with the wings being restored.

Mr Walker says there is still lots to do if they are to hit a target of flying by the end of the year.

"We have to get the engines in and get the propellers turning.

And then there is what I call the internal details, making it look like a C47 on the sixth of June 1944, which is what we are aiming for.

"It's two things in simple terms. It is honouring veterans who fought for our freedom and it is educating future generations on how important our history is."

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