I RODE IN A D-DAY PLANE!

Oh man! It was seriously just as cool as I'd expected! The plane was HUGE, and looked really awesome. Since I took my avionics headset, I was able to plug it into the comms and hear the pilots talking with ATC and amongst eachother as they controlled the plane. 

This plane is a C-53, one of the planes used during D-Day to transport gliders and soldiers. It also ran a several emergency transport missions from what I read online about this specific plane. It's amazing how they were able to restore it back to flight.

The interior was so rugged. Metal seats, only lap seatbelts, and you're sitting up against the metal walls of the plane. There's a cord on the roof (celiling?) that runs along the cabin, to hang onto as you walk, so that you don't fall over, since it can be bumpy. 

The engines were also LOUD, of course. But hearing them roar to life was exhilarating. The cockpit looked pretty cool too. Oh man - so, after the flight, I went up to thank the pilots and we talked a bit. They told me that if they had known I was a student pilot, they would have let me co-pilot the plane for a bit.

I mean, that would have been EXTREMELY COOL!!!! I thought about that, of course, but it's just such a silly and fantastical thought to have that I would feel way too embarassed to even think about asking to do something as cool as that! But man, they told me that they totally would have let me! Ahhhhhhh! Well, I'll remember those two for next time.

The plane flies again in December, so, who knows? ;)