Tour – Caen – Daks over Normandy – L-Birds – June 2019 – 4Aviation

Tour - Caen

Daks over Normandy - L-Birds - June 2019

Information

In June 2019 the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion is commemorated. A number of events in the UK and France are organised for this. One of the nicer events is the Daks over Normandy crossing of a large fleet of Douglas C-47 / DC-3 aircraft from Duxford (United Kingdom) to Caen-Carpiquet (France). In France, mass airborne landings will be done by paratroopers. At the time of updating this (January 2019), 38 aircraft have already registered.

The aircraft will be present in Caen for further inspection. There is also the possibility to make a sightseeing flight.

Simultaneously with the above, L-Birds back to Normandy is also organised. Around 75 authentic Liason aircraft, such as the Piper L-4 Grasshopper, Stinson L-5 Sentinel and many other unique Liason aircraft will come together at Aérodrome de Saint André de l’Eure.

This is probably the last time it will be celebrated in such a massive way, that is why 4Aviation has to be here, so we have put together a interesting coach trip.

Tour status

  • Full

    You can no longer book a seat for this tour.

Itinerary

The itinerary that follows is to be considered as preliminary.

The plan at this moment is as follows:

  • Tuesday 4 June 2019: In the evening we drive from pick-up locations in the Netherlands and Belgium to Caen.
  • Wednesday 5 June 2019: Arrival at Caen airport around midday to watch arrivals and possibly the drop.
  • Thursday 6 June 2019: No activities at Caen airport. We will visit several D-Day locations in the area.
  • Friday 7 June 2019: Visit Caen-Carpiquet, the field is open to the public.
  • Saturday 8 June 2019: Visit Aérodrome de Saint André de l’Eure, the field is open to the public. Afterwards we drive a bit towards the Netherlands already.
  • Sunday 9 June 2019: We drive the last part back to the Netherlands.

On Tuesday we leave from a number of pick-up locations in the Netherlands and Belgium to Caen. We drive all night.

On Wednesday we plan to arrive at Caen-Carpiquet airport around noon. This means we can witness the arrival of the large Dakota formation. The airport itself is not open to the public on this day. The drop (of 250 jumpers) is scheduled between 16.00 and 17.00, location to be announced. Is possible we will try to witness the drop as well. After this long day we will drive to our hotel.

No flying activities are planned on Thursday. That’s why we want to visit some historic D-Day locations in the area on this day.

On Friday the airport is open to the public and we will be at the entrance early. Here we will enjoy all the beautiful aircraft all day long. There is also the possibility to make a flight in a Dakota. Let us know if you are interested in this.

On Saturday we will visit Aérodrome de Saint André de l’Eure. On this day the participants of L-Birds back to Normandy can be viewed at the airfield. Afterwards we drive a bit back towards the Netherlands and will stop for an overnight stay.

On Sunday we drive the last part to the Netherlands and stop at the different pick-up locations of the bus.