Warbird Information Exchange

We are thinking about a mass C-47/airborne drop into our WWII battle, Would it be worth it?

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Michael Luther
Michigan Flight Museum's
Air Show Director
THUNDER OVER MICHIGAN

I think it would be worth it if you could get at least 3 to 4 C-47/R4D aircraft flying over and dropping at least 10 +or- paratroopers from each aircraft. Much less than that would not really be even a rough approximation of a true "Mass" airdrop, and may not be worth the effort and trouble.

Just my humble opinion - I know that you and others will give us a Great show next August.

If you don't find a way to make this happen, I'm locking out your domain account, cutting off your internet access, and will beat you with a very large stick every time you come near the hangar from now until Thunder.

So I guess you can count this as one vote "yes"

Seriously though, with "Band of Brothers" still being recent and popular to the masses, I think this would be a sweet inclusion. (If the insurance folks don't all have a collective heart attack.) Even if it's only three or four sticks of troops, it'd be an awesome sight.

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Phil K.
Yankee Air Museum
Systems Admin / Ramp Crew / Professional Photo Ruiner

Mike,
If you get that worked out it would certainly be a different look for the show. As a backup, think of maybe a re-supply drop by some C-47's during the ground battle, of course, offsetting the line of flight for the safety of the ground troops.
Later you might get a couple of sticks from Bragg to come up and make a jump from C-130's. Finish it off with a transport "Hertiage Flight" of a C-47 and C-130. We had always wanted to do a flight with the Lodestar and a Herk.
Bob
ODS/CAF

It would be unreal to see a mass air drop. It would definitely add to an already spectacular battle. Armor, fighter support, and real paratroopers all leads me to believe that it will be the greatest battle ever!

Not to be a dilwad here but I would suggest that you review the basic stats on casualties for a drop of a given size vs. military acceptable losses.

I'm sorry, but I recall a "60 Minutes" episode where a leading Army General was interviewed regarding the number of deaths associated with a "desert storm" style practice event. The number of soldiers killed with un-opened chutes, equipment issues, etc. was unreal but well within "acceptable losses" based on the number of soldiers involved. Still a staggering number for a "practice" event.

I'd hate to see catatstrophy for the sake of a show. IMHO there should be some tremendous prep done prior to the event.

If you have the goods, great! Don't go into it un-prepared.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

That would be pretty cool, but only if they dropped with the round 'chutes and not the airfoil thingys. Those would spoil the effect.

Mudge the purist

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Land of the free because of the brave

Sounds like a winning idea to me Mike!!

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Never drive faster than your Guardian Angel can fly!!

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Trae

PLEASE... YES!

I was waiting for someone to have this idea! Well I'm sure other groups and people have had this idea for a show but man! This will be one of the best years yet!


For my side: I hope them Tennessee boys will get up there this year! It would be cool to try and get 5 to 6 Thunderbolts on the field! Imagine a fighter sweep at 100 to 200 ft?! One peeling off after the other! But thats probably asking too much.

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Keep Em' Flying,
Christopher Soltis
Dedicated to the preservation and education of The Sikorsky Memorial Airport

CASC Blog Page: http://ctair-space.blogspot.com/
Warbird Wear: https://www.redbubble.com/people/warbirdwear/shop

Chicks Dig Warbirds.......right?

I believe "standard" "acceptable losses" are about 10% for modern combat jumps - losses include any type of injury rendering the jumper "combat ineffective" & range from severe sprains to death.

Peacetime training jumps have much lower losses (normally).

Most of the drops I do are small unit drops (<20), but we occasionally will fill the back of the Herk (50+). Proper safety precautions, wind limits, reserve chutes, and higher drop altitudes (~1000-1200' vs ~800' combat) result in near zero casualties for the overwhelming majority of drops.

It is a very real concern, but is by no means a risk that cannot be mitigated.

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Daddy always said, "If yer gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough" and I'm one tough sonofagun!

Sounds like a great idea Mike. This would be a very impressive sight to see in conjunction with the ground battle.

Eric

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The air resounds from the Rolls-Royce roar!
To an enemy the warning is dire: here only eagles soar,
and the last thing he'll see is a mirrored Spitfire!

Yah, I was thinking the same thing. They drop at 1,000 feet so everyone can see them and they get good hang time, and can all get into the LZ without pulling their shoulders out of socket trying to slip. They could jump combat, but stuff their packs with packing peanuts so they're really jumping Hollywood, and stagger up and out so the jumpers won't drop into the birds behind them. That would make it pretty dooable. Wish I hadn't got fat and old, I'd be willing to do a jump like that. Wonder how hard it would be to make a fake Waco to split open so a jeep could drive out?

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"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

Glad I am not out to lunch. You guys have more experience than I but I would hope the "show" would not over power the safety factor.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

well, the most I have ever seen at a show was one stick. But honestly the issue when your doing multiple sticks is mostly making sure the DZ is big enough, and the birds are very well trained at formation, and when to hit the green light. A good example of a badly trained formation drop would be DDay When guys were mowed by props, drop in the atlantic, and miles from their DZ. Because you want them all in a tight DZ you'll have to rehearse somehow, but the Air Force does it every day, right?

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"I knew the jig was up when I saw the P-51D-20-NA Mustang blue-nosed bastards from Bodney, and by the way the blue was more of a royal blue than an indigo and the inner landing gear interiors were NOT green, over Berlin."

I have seen something on the web about a group that does WWII drops in full era gear, might be worth the search.

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A-7D, the Short Little Ugly "Flyer" and A-10A Warthog, weren't called an ATTACK plane for nothing. Remember for a little relief on the ground, call your local Air Force to "Go Ugly Early"!