NEWSLETTER
Your Next Chance to Become a 101st Airborne Paratrooper is Saturday, June 28, 2025!
Farmingdale, NY (June 9, 2025) - Coming off a successful May 3, 2025 debut flight, American Airpower Museum continues their popular C-47 D-Day Living History Flight Experience with three additional dates in 2025 to commemorate the End of World War II 80th Anniversary. AAM’s mission is to educate the public about aviation history and in particular, the important role that military aviation has played in defense of the United States during WWII and beyond. Our flights are an excellent way to teach present day Americans what it was like to participate in an actual combat mission during WWII.
AAM kicked off Summer 2025 with a successful “Legends of Airpower Weekend,” by flying its Warbirds in the Jones Beach Air Show. The museum’s C-47 D-Day Living History Flights, continues to honor the end of WWII with special flying events throughout the Summer and Fall. AAM is proud to celebrate its 25th Anniversary Year with three more C-47 Saturday dates during 2025, June 28th, September 6th and October 4th (rain date on Sunday).
If you’re a Long Islander who will fly on AAM’s Douglas C-47 Skytrain “Second Chance,” you’ll be joined by our Living Historians for a breathtakingly realistic and unforgettable recreation of what U.S. Paratroopers experienced on D-Day. Four flights are set for each of the above dates, 10:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., and passengers should arrive 60 minutes before their flight. Seats are allocated a first come, first served basis and book up fast, so act now to reserve your flight. To book flights online, visit www.americanairpowermuseum.org and click on “Flight Experience” tab. Or call (516) 531-3950, (631) 454-2039, visit AAM’s Cockpit USA gift shop Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Hangar 3, 1230 New Highway, Farmingdale, NY 11735.
AAM’s Living History Flight Experience is a one-of-a-kind immersive educational program, where professional reenactors accompany you on our fully restored WWII C-47, providing a sense of what 82nd and 101st Airborne Division Paratroopers felt on their incredible 1,200-plane D-Day assault, when Allied forces stormed the coast of northern France. The crew are all licensed pilots, some in the reserves or ex-military, who have flown our C-47 and other restored AAM aircraft for years. Your commanding officer is famous WWII Living Historian Robert Scarabino, Director of the 101st Airborne Living History Group, who has led AAM’s C-47 D-Day flights since 2003.
With his 101st Airborne Living Historians, Honorary Captain Scarabino transports passengers back in time. Your flight experience as a WWII paratrooper includes: a mission briefing for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation which launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II; a chance to wear authentic military field jackets, helmets, and gear throughout the mission; the rare chance to take flight in an original WWII C-47, one of the last few true C-47s still in original military condition!
The 506 PIR CO starts off with a briefing at Hangar 3, with charts and maps of the French coast. He lays out your objective, to destroy a Nazi German garrison and secure causeways leading to the beach. Before dismissing his “paratroopers,” he will issue them a tourniquet, a box of what was meant to be morphine, plus a reminder to take out a GI life insurance policy. “You’ve been training hard and fast for two years,” Scarabino shouts to the room full of his soldiers. “God bless you, and I’ll see you in the assembly area.”
Once on board, Scarabino’s “paratroopers” will experience the sights, smells and sounds as the C-47’s mighty radial engines fire up and you’re off into the blue! You’ll watch the crew operate their C-47 as “paratroopers” get ready for battle. As they fly over Jones Beach, everyone lines up and gets ready to parachute down. They will relive the WWII experience right up to the very moment when each soldier hooks up their parachute to the above static line and gets ready to jump! Many participants reported they were sweating and hearts racing because it was so realistic! After about half an hour in the air, the C-47 lands at Republic and taxis back to Hangar 3. Once back in the hangar, passengers pull a card from their pockets to learn the actual paratrooper’s fate whose identity each had assumed. For most, this exciting flight experience is a teachable moment they’ll never forget!
The cost for each C-47 flight is $375. A flight experience entitles you to bring an additional person who can watch the flights take off and land, plus visit AAM’s exhibits all day free of charge. Others may also wish to visit AAM on these three scheduled dates, just to watch each flight and tour the museum. In that case, admission for adults is $18, seniors and veterans is $15, and for children ages 3-12, $12. (No tickets or pre-registration is needed for regular admission.) This is a wonderful way to educate Americans about WWII and our Greatest Generation veterans. You’ll support AAM’s mission to honor veterans and military aviation history by helping to maintain and preserve their legacy, the museum’s iconic aircraft. Help Keep ‘em Flying!
“Second Chance” was transferred to the Royal Air Force in 1945 and flew in the Berlin Airlift (1948 - 1949) with the RAF, serving until 1950. The aircraft next served in the Belgian Air Force for two years. In 1952 she went to the French Air Force, serving two years in Vietnam, as well as India, Algeria, Morocco and the Congo. In 1967 she was sold to Israel and flew in the Israeli Defense Force 32 years. Offered for sale in 1999, she was renovated by Aero Services and acquired by the American Airpower Museum in 2001. Aside from AAM’s C-47 Living History Flights, she also performs at regional air shows in classic WWII D-Day markings with the original “D8” code. One of the last C-47s in stock military configuration, this aircraft has just over 18,000 hours in the air, one of the world’s lowest flight times ever. C-47s were nicknamed “Gooney Birds” by their pilots after the Albatross seabird, which has an impressive wingspan and is known for its endurance and ability to fly great distances!
Photo Caption: Living Historians and participants line up and board AAM’s WWII Douglas C-47 Skytrain troop transport
The American Airpower Museum is an aviation museum located on the landmarked former site of Republic Aviation at Republic Airport, Farmingdale, NY. The Museum maintains a collection of aviation artifacts and an array of operational aircraft spanning the many years of the aircraft factory's history. The Museum is a 501 (c) (3) Nonprofit Educational Foundation Chartered by the New York State Board of Regents.
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