Transcripts For DW DocFilm 20240714

Meet sgt. June 6th 1944 for many the normandy invasion is seen as the defining day of world war 2. Yes even now little is known about the wrong 850. 00 transport planes played on d. Day. They were critical to the ally success. Of the deceased 3 is a bit of a jekyll and hyde aircraft because it has a civilian life but it also has this military life. During the 2nd want war the d. C. 3 helped the allied forces secure victory. In the cold war it saved west bonnett from a soviet takeover. We were not afraid of these kind of bombers we all knew that they had come to help. In vietnam however to save your plane became a vicious weapon sent in by nights. Following her military career this chameleon of the skies transforms herself once more she becomes an ally in her again and a grand lady of postwar aviation. The d. C. Threes many names reflect its long and storied history sky sleep dakota candy boma and c 47. Has gone for decades i mean what other aircraft can you say has flown for nearly a century and continues to fly. And no off a plane in the wild has been built in such numbers. The d. C. 3 was launched in california in 1986 and in just 10 years older than 16000 of them were produced. In the u. S. In revolutionized that travel sidelining the railroad for Long Distance transport. The deceased reason main competitor was a german plane. That you 52 had an element am always structure. It was also popular under novel because of the carry 15 passages. The d. C. 3 was superior to the u. 52. 00 in every respect. More seats better flight performance a modern design it became a role model for several generations of passenger aircraft. But soon the 2nd world war would dramatically change its daily life. In switzerland the american plane became part of history. This one nearly ended up on a highway intersection in dubai. Now restored to her former glory shes an often i catch up to rival the house. She was rescued by who go motus a local businessman the d. C. 3 has become his hobby and now plays an Important Role in his life. Each year he spends about 70 hours in the cockpit. Munch butte as you can feel the plane when you fly it means you have to take it in your hands and experience it which group of me as a pilot im important so i have to do it myself both its something quite special expect europe. In 136 swiss that decided against the german u. 52 choosing the d. C. 3 and stat with paris london and berlin among the outlines prime destinations. Switzerland became douglass bus customer in europe. During world war 2 this west 53. To avoid being shot down by the germans as enemy aircraft. North or d. C. 3 is there enjoying as pleasant a retirement as the vintage plane in switzerland. Of the 16000 planes built most grounded. But even in the act a d. C. 3 retains a good value unlike most other aircraft. In wisconsin retired hulls awaiting to take to the skies once again. Theyre one of the few 1000. 00 each. The airframe is fantastic it is after all a d. C. 3 and modernize the electronics you put the new engines in it and you have almost a new airplane. Conversions in oshkosh these veterans of world war 2 a given a new lease on life. The swiss spend it also started a 2nd career as a retired c 47. 00 the military version of the d. C. 3. Level event. For a year now over a year. So honestly i was extremely intimidated bucky good knowing those can be the only girl. Ashley has been interested in planes since she was a child she began her career helping out after has. To oshkosh home to the well its not just aviation showing. Their history a lot of history so much each aircraft tells a different story and i mean even judy over there obviously that one has quite a history as well and its just its amazing what aircraft stories can tell. Judy for example could tell how she was shot in the water and how she and several emergency landings. When judy was missing california no one knew quite different the original idea of darkness to construct an outline but seats during the day and bags at night. The fast Customer American Airlines placed the order with a man handshake instead of a formal contract. The service was limited was also very expensive you have to be fairly wealthy to fly it was not for everyone people dressed in their sunday best to go fly because it was an occasion. When our staffs suddenly became highly sought after career the sleeper provided great comfort huge seats like living room chats modern ladies and gentlemen is toilets. And at night the seats became beds. Hollywood love to sleep for the 1st time the actors could fly in from new york without any annoying Hotel Accommodation or train transfers. Travel time between east and west coasts was counted by more than half to only 15 hours. Including 3 stop overs for refueling. So the d. C. 3 kind of change things by making the journey the destination i suppose the sort of slogging it out and getting worried needs go. The planes landed in glendale live after meals. The d. C. 3 response to robust and extremely economical. Other airlines also place their orders with douglas a regular Service Without bags this was a master stroke of design and make applied quite profitable. For. The hollywood sleeper has almost been forgotten today but not in florida. Palm trees and the road to the lost family have failed. When the lost me boat was sold a few years ago the family acted fast the original aircraft Registration Number is still visible. The family wants to restore the d. C. 3 but they like the money to do so. This is what flagship tennessee look like in our prime back when she flew the rich and the beautiful across the United States. Were going to bring it back to what it was in a 930 secs. As the the oldest d. C. 3 in the world today and you know its it was a 61 ever built so of all the d. C. There is this one really really deserves to to live again and to show the world what Airline Travel was in the mid thirtys. On board the food was freshly prepared there were no classes like today every ticket was equally expensive. A flight across the United States cost the equivalent of 2 months salary and you even amount to smog. I started when i was about 15 years old flying d. C. Series with my dad from from miami to the bahamas turks and caicos and. You know in 2007 we bought our 1st one as a family. In the 990 s. The most family was living and flying in a mask. At the age of 7 glenn was amount to take control of the plane under his fathers supervision of course. It was really something to go to alaska with my parents to be able to fly with my dad from fairbanks to the different indian villages gold mines. Places that. Really no one gets to go to. This when. Matis is also following his dreams however there is a difference of a few 1000000. 00 between his ambitions and those of the moss family. In oshkosh the swiss hobby pilot has bought another d. C. 3 from the meadow judy. Lets talk about my airplane they were going to take out some the workshop manager discussed the rebuilding of the at craft. During world war 2 judy carried paratroopers in just 2 years from now she will be able to do so again it. Was going to be in the field get on right now but there is still a lot to be done i knew it when i bought or. Buying the plane costs around 120th of what ill spend in total and by the time im finished ill have invested the same thing 19 times until its what i wanted to be its always 3 months ago. In december 941 the United States and his wild war too. Many civilian d. C. 3 s. Including all sleep as were requisitioned and converted into c. 47. 00 military transporters. In addition the United States built up its own stock. It also supplied hundreds of c. 40 sevens to its allies especially to Great Britain and the soviet union. In england the 100 fast u. S. Sample in division was rehearsing for d. Day for the liberation of western europe. Thousands of paratroopers supported on landing operation in normandy. One of the units nysa became known as the. Band of brothers. The most important vehicle for transporting supplies was the c. 47 a true one course. We had a number of c. 47. Practice jumps in the states and of course after we got over to europe to england we perhaps had 15 or 20 practice jumps. From the c. 47. The americans brought as much as they could to the table. They only had one chance with the invasion so it had to be successful. Best surprise attack from behind german lines helped establish the beachheads. For the 1st time in a conquered life supplied the paratroopers the c. 40 sevens totem towards the target zone. The gravest care everything in the world and we need the suppliers we need the ammunition and we needed the equipment so the gladdest provided that for us we couldnt care it was theirs on a c 47 theyre the bionic ladders and sure that if we want for they go out as i want for the c. 47 pulling. The missile would never been accomplished. The client is one made of wood they did not have to return and with their food designed to be disposable they had a high failure rate. Yes. They are cracked up the minute they hit the ground they cracked that they were no more good and then when it cracked up they cracked up a lot of people with them the paratroopers call them flying coffins because we would have nothing to do with them they were dangerous. As the invasion approached the americans. Of course to be consigned. To motivate his troops general eisenhower the commander in chief addressed them in rousing times. This. Is pictures fast and furious steps forward. I recall very well that everyone was nervous very quiet but very nervous you could see it you could feel it. Fire. Trucks. In the 1st wave around 850 military transport has released 17000 paratroopers coming back in further waves to provide them with supplies. Start. On their flight to france and shames in his cohen rights watch the deployments of hundreds of warships making their way towards the beaches of normandy. The invasion began with shelling from the naval lottery. But even visit opening failed to pave the way for the Ground Troops they encountered strong john in defense fire. As long as the enemy could supply enough ammunition to its beach fortifications the allied invasion would not be able to succeed. It was the task of the power troopers to cut off the job and supply routes by taking control of all bridges near the beaches so that the allied Ground Forces could land safely. But. This mission was extremely dangerous the generals expected a casualty rate of 50 percent. Edge shames and his comrades realised what they were up against. Dollars of fred scared. Shaking like anyone else at that time because we knew that was a real thing i was scared to death at that moment. It took him about 15 minutes to land floating in the hatch the men were exposed to german defensive fire. That jumped into a bunch of flak tracer bullets artillery shells flak and so forth how our the here ill never know because the plane you can hear the flak bounce off that feeling you get ready to jump not only that parachute was coming down and you could hear something going through the prior shoots cutting through the silt and that sound as never left me to this day. Few units jumped off at the right point because the pilots that lost their orientation. A new radar system intended to mark the landing zones did not work. Some units ended up 5 miles from a drop zone others as far as 50 miles away. And. We were there in no way as land Enemy Territory we had to make contact with the beach forces. Which we did after 3 days. Once they had landed the paratroopers was supplied exclusively for me at. The c. 40 sevens came back again and again pulling the gliders behind them. But that is what the german vomits were expecting they had flooded the fields and meadows to prevent the gliders from landing safely. The germans also put up the ladder barriers like poles like trees in the fields whereas with land they did that quite a few places in normandy but we overcame him somehow. Overcoming the barriers came at a high price to the glider crews 1. 00 in 4 song jews was killed in the operation. But those who survived helped turn the tide in favor of the allies. The german troops ran out of ammunition allowing allied forces to conquer the beaches and advance inland. The vanoc had to withdraw or surrender. After only 3 days the allied forces moved eastward to recapture france. Given the high risks faced by the paratroopers and glider crews general eisenhower on the courage of his man but also praised the d. C. 3 as a key factor in winning the 2nd world war. The fast newsreel footage of the invasion to apparent american theaters featured a plain cold that saw. This d. C. 3 became a legend of the war. When the crew baptized the plane with this name the paratroopers intended to send a message to. That thought. After the war the famous across disappeared without a trace until it was miraculously rediscovered and based in oshkosh 70 years later. We actually didnt even know we had it it was sold to us by by a gentleman who was down as a lark and had pretty much run his operation out of money and he wanted to sell their point to us and we put it back with the other airplanes in our bone yard we called back in the grass and it sat there for several years i think 7 maybe and we just didnt even know we had. By sheer chance historian recognized that song by has serial number. Suddenly had a superstar on mans but also a problem many wanted to buy the famous war horse including swiss enthusiastic who matters. But in the end he had to make do with duty. It was annoying because they had promised i could buy it but i understand the historical reasons it was plain belongs to america to say good to america. In Oklahoma City the fate of many vintage planes rests in the hands of brawn owens. Rai is giving the radio legends a thumbs up or down no pilots would ever data disagree with roys assessment a well maintained engine is the best Life Insurance a pilot can have. This behind us is the area youre here or engine kermie and there are disassemble from there they go to cleaning from their. Polishing and inspection before theyre built. Everything was handmade and everything is so precise theres an amazing engine. Today judys radio engine is under inspection its dismantled to see if it cylinders still walk safely enough or whether theyve been pushed on the field so hot. The d. C. 3 has 2 engines with 14 cylinders each each cylinder. 86. 00 horsepower generating a total of 2400. 00 horsepower. Gods bearing asteroid bearing my fate hugo motus roy has any bad news today there is total lack in almost all of judy selling as far as. They are heavily used and very used you. Like a newer better quality serve any of these would not fit your needs i dont feel. There are new cylinders available every so this is given out is this was theater because we knew that it was used but i did not expected to be so extreme with the engines are completely exhausted is just steve biko skill a effect. Of a swiss pinus its have been some pill to swallow 14 new senators from whopping 50000. 00. Bought as an engineer he knows the parts of this quantity come at a price. A week later the brand new old engine will be on its way to oshkosh to become a part of judy. When a hobby becomes serious passion may be what is most required. But knowledge is equally crucial. Mobility has become more important to us than ever before but so too has for not happen to see. Such strength determine success or defeat. Im not only an author. And not only on the d c 3. Not even the engineers that douglas could have gas that some 80 years later that design would be considered the most successful plane in aviation history. But led now to the 2nd world war was a city in ruins. The german capital had paid heavily for its role at the heart of the conflict. Its people lived in holes and cellars they were starving. Socalled rubble women cleared the sites of the bombed out houses. But then the victors began to argue. In june the 948 the soviet union blocked all land routes into and then so that the western allies could no longer get supplies to their sectors of the city. The americans and the british decided to supply 2000000 people from the air. It would become the most ambitious and left ever attempt as. A d. C. 3 sweat pours in again including 300 british dakotas. Lynas call them candy bombers one of the pilots was gail house and hes filming with his camera. Many pilots still new bonnet from the whole. Movie. You would we have got used to aircraft noise as children from the air raids in the war. But after the war there wasnt much at traffic over berlin. Now it started again in 148. 00 with the airlift. We were not afraid of these candy bombers we all knew that they had come to help us. In june 1948 germany was divided into 4 occupied sectors. The candy bombers reach west berlin using 2 car doors from hamburg and frankfurt as they with a fast and corridors in the wild. As soon as the planes were unloaded they returned to west germany using a 3rd return corridor towards hanover. The berlin was probably the Busiest Airport on the planet for a brief period of time anything from food the coal the milk everything that the berlin population needed was slow in it it was amazing. Every pilot had to make a successful fast landing in by then fly back immediately without landing a tall best schedule was excruciating the tight. Food and cold with the primary supplies flown in on the d. C. 3 s. Job and workers had 30 minutes to unload each aircraft that was break time for the pilots. Galas filming the snack bar where the pilots call best sandwiches they flew to ballin up to 7 times each day. Affected by the abject poverty he saw among the children of batman gale saved some candy from his own rations and dropped it out of his plane attached to little parachutes and soon the other pilots began to do the same. The german children loved it. With this gesture the americans won the hearts and minds of the west germans. Then know why and if there was a parachute coming down then hundreds of children would run through the streets and chase it. It was an adventure for us. As though you had found some Golden Treasure yes a bar of chocolate i didnt know a single child back then i had a whole chocolate bar for themselves give maddalena isnt of. Today thousands of people barbecue every summer. When doris france guy looks out over the abandon tempelhof affeldt the old by then apples he wonders how many of them know about the role it played some 17 years ago. After the elevator the d. C. 3 served as a passenger plane for a few more years. But the emergence of faster and more comfortable jets soon put it out of business. The boeing began to take control of the skies for us the 707 on long haul flights then the 7 to 7 middle distance routes and in the mid 1960 s. The boeing 737 for short. But even in the jet age the veteran roared back to life. In vietnam the d. C. 3 and her final nickname puff the magic dragon after a well known hippie anthem. In vietnam the armed cargo version a c 47 did not rain chocolate but rather fire and death. First tracer ammunition was shot to detect and illuminate the targets at night. Then came a hail of machine gun bullets firing up to 6000 rounds a minute. The magic dragon became the messenger of death. There were 3 large guns set up and the rear port side of the aircraft and because of it its turning capability and because it was a slower aircraft it could actually wing around in a pile on formation and hit extremely tight targets just continuously so they could basically hold down the enemy in a basically firing pattern just circle around them and keep them pinned into this this one area. The crew flew until they might be you know what i mean. Thanks to the gunships the u. S. Our force managed to stop several enemy offensives. But this time not even the d. C. 3 ton rounds them but the trouble. After the u. S. Withdrawal from vietnam the d. C. 3 finally seem to be consigned to history in most parts of the wild. But as it turns out its story was far from over. There are still new and exciting chapters to be resin in the 1990 s. The d. C. 3 days old virtues are being enhanced with new technology such as turbo engines and a modern cockpit vintage aircraft are being reborn as base let up those the turbo d. C. 3 combines the best of 2 wild from the past the original license the airframe and the aviation features and from the present the safety of a modern cockpit is. I when starting the engines you can immediately have a different. Type of sounds like you just. Seen so that these things because 3 look if i can feel like im baffled like i am and this is a powerful. This place will soon be commissioned by nasa to carry out ice measurements of the south pole. I the john alfred bacon and shoot is also boys to talk about classics and equip them with Sophisticated Technology the power to research i polish 6 will soon be setting off for the north pole. Was im releasing the coupling you know. Before leaving for the arctic the Research Grant grace caffie tested a laser is carried like a Cruise Missile under the hollow ok almost rope oh oh. Oh. Oh. Oh oh oh oh am bad is a great system we fly at low level and the instrument records the thickness of the c. I. Is from 25 meters above its surface but doesnt pick up. Our listening splice nguni a 300 kilometer. And very low this would be a serious disadvantage in Passenger Transportation but it allows the researchers to gather accurate data over Long Distances. Im going to lets me on weve seen in recent years that the ice is getting thinner and thinner in 2001 we found as about 2. 20 meters thick in summer it was about half of that last year and now were curious to see what the eyes looks like this year on its a minute it was explained to us as males. The results of these Research Flights provide evidence of Climate Change for example in greenland. Greenland loses 3 times as much ice every year as there is in the entire european alps. The original features of the d. C. 3 include a sextant. This allows the pilots and navigate with the sun in case his g. P. S. Files. May have a north pole the Magnetic Fields are a risk for modern navigation. Weather permitting the team cruises over the north atlantic for up to 6 hours a day. Within 2 weeks 3000 kilometers will be screened and a huge amount of data gathered. Station north is the northernmost point of greenland inhabited by only a few soldiers. The gravel runway of this danish military post is not a problem for the d. C. 3 she manages well on uneven surfaces and can even land on snow and ice. If you put it on wheels as normally you put it on skis you can use it in the winter time off frozen rivers and lakes you can use it in deserts you can use it in small airports you can use it in mountainous areas it is a fantastic aircraft that can take off from fairly short fields using. The technology that was available at the time. The 1000 lives of the d. C. 3. Was an exceptional journey through the 20th century. Not sure is hollywood sleeper. Cargo carrier the savior of west bound then and now at the age of 80 helping to solve the riddles of Climate Change. No other aircraft has done more to shape the course of history. Keep it old go. After. Being a day. Go teach robotics. Keep learning marched reality wait a 2nd we want the whole picture our facts instead of make ideas shift deliver us. From one measure to reality to cryptocurrency your topics for live in an ever changing Digital World lets talk then to devise a sure fire shift. On d w. D 2 you know that 77 percent of africa are younger than 65. On the 77 percent we talk about the issues that matter to you. Street spinning in south africa formerly any legal matter scratch now a new generation of drivers is pushing this subculture into the mainstream. In 30 minutes on d w. Bring to me. Not everyone who loves books has to go insane. Good to dunk. Literature list produced by street. Plays. This is t w news live from berlin hong kong protesters keep up the pressure we have a live pictures of a mass rally still happening in the city calling for hong kongs pro beijing leader to step down this after she vows to pressure and drop plans for a controversial extradition law our correspondent is at the scene also coming up