Hi Guys, a few images taken at the parachute drop at Sannerville by the Daks Over Normandy aircraft as a continuation of their European tour. This event was delayed for various reasons and was spectacular to watch, but conditions for photography were not great; the aircraft were flying high, it was overcast and it was around 7:30 at night, so my pictures leave a lot to be desired, despite using my 600mm lens, without which the aircraft would have been very small indeed.
When we first got to Sannerville, not the original location; it was going to be at Ranville, both a few kilometres outside of Caen, it was mid afternoon and a Spitfire was giving a flying display. We got out of the bus to a farmer's field, accompanying thousands of other people on a gravel track. We watched some Hercs and a Transall C.160 do a couple of para drops before disappearing, and were told that the Daks wouldn't be departing from Duxford for a few hours. Fast forward to early evening and the first lot flew nearby then disappeared to Caen Carpiquet airport, before the rest came and did their drops. Here are some not entirely inspiring images from the day.
First Dak to appear was the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight aircraft, which dropped a few then departed.
Then C-47 Drag Em Oot did a few circles of the drop zone before parachutists jumped.
A view of the DZ and the two aircraft's parachutists. That's Drag Em Oot in the background.
A few hours later the big drop took place. This is Placid Lassie having just released a load of troopers.
D-Day Doll.
The sky was full of parachutists after several aircraft had flown by.
The interloper, the Hungarian registered Lisunov Li-2 with its right hand door. Was that a slightly different engine note I hear?
The Scandinavian DC-3 Daisy joined in, too.
The Drop Zone. Note the photographers at centre along the tree line.
Each aircraft did several passes dropping a few paras at a time before retiring to Caen Carpiquet, picking up more guys and doing more drops, some of which were some distance from the DZ.
When we were walking back to the bus we spotted several paras making their way through fields that were nowhere near the DZ. These guys came down not far from where we were standing.
I'll post pics of the modern aircraft drops soon.
When we first got to Sannerville, not the original location; it was going to be at Ranville, both a few kilometres outside of Caen, it was mid afternoon and a Spitfire was giving a flying display. We got out of the bus to a farmer's field, accompanying thousands of other people on a gravel track. We watched some Hercs and a Transall C.160 do a couple of para drops before disappearing, and were told that the Daks wouldn't be departing from Duxford for a few hours. Fast forward to early evening and the first lot flew nearby then disappeared to Caen Carpiquet airport, before the rest came and did their drops. Here are some not entirely inspiring images from the day.
First Dak to appear was the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight aircraft, which dropped a few then departed.
Then C-47 Drag Em Oot did a few circles of the drop zone before parachutists jumped.
A view of the DZ and the two aircraft's parachutists. That's Drag Em Oot in the background.
A few hours later the big drop took place. This is Placid Lassie having just released a load of troopers.
D-Day Doll.
The sky was full of parachutists after several aircraft had flown by.
The interloper, the Hungarian registered Lisunov Li-2 with its right hand door. Was that a slightly different engine note I hear?
The Scandinavian DC-3 Daisy joined in, too.
The Drop Zone. Note the photographers at centre along the tree line.
Each aircraft did several passes dropping a few paras at a time before retiring to Caen Carpiquet, picking up more guys and doing more drops, some of which were some distance from the DZ.
When we were walking back to the bus we spotted several paras making their way through fields that were nowhere near the DZ. These guys came down not far from where we were standing.
I'll post pics of the modern aircraft drops soon.