D-Day in Connecticut
Story and photos by Scott SlingsbyNot long after delivering the airplane, Goutiere joined CNAC where he
would fly 680 missions, some of which were in this airplane, ferrying
supplies for Chinese and U.S. troops and the U.S. Army Air Corps, for
the rest of the war.
Although not making this transatlantic crossing with the C-47, Goutiere
flew the airplane four years ago when the Historic Flight Foundation
made the trip from its home base in Seattle to San Francisco for the
CNAC reunion.
The day concluded with a media flight which was also used for
formation practice. My ride would be in the WWII veteran Betsy’s
Biscuit Bomber. This C-47 joined the war effort after D-Day but was
assigned to the 9th Air Force in Europe during the war. Her name
derives from her time taking part in the Berlin Airlift in 1948. It contin-
ued in military service with the Belgian, French and Israeli Air Forces
until the early 90s. Once back in the US she was restored back to flying
condition and now has the distinction of being one of the lowest time
C-47s to exist (under 10,000 hours).We spent about 45 minutes airborne over the Connecticut countryside
in formation with D-Day veterans, That’s All Brother and Placid Lassie
before returning to the Oxford airport.With the day’s flying over it was time for the D-Day squadron to switch
hats and go into education mode. As I left, there was a group of
teenagers being escorted out to the flight line. It was gratifying to see
these kids be able to experience history first hand and not just read
about it in a book.