Dare Country Airport, Monteo, NC December 18, 2011. The Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation operates a Douglas C-54 Skymaster, known as the “Spirit of Freedom,” as a flying museum educating the young and old alike of the events of the post WWII Berlin Airlift. Tim Chopp, President of the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation recently flew the aircraft on a candy drop with Gail Halvorsen, now 92 years old, the original Candy Bomber himself. Mr. Halvorsen came from Arizona for this mission that was filmed by the History Channel. Mr. Halversen has been one of Mr. Chopp’s co-pilots since 1998 when they crossed the Atlantic together in C-54 to return to Berlin for the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift.
The Foundation is also in the process of restoring the Boeing C-97, another “endangered species” which will also be used as a valuable flying museum. A member of our organization will be working with Mr. Chopp in the near future to complete the airworthiness certification. For those of you who don’t know about the Berlin Airlift or you would like to refresh your memories of this gracious adventure you can visit the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation site. There you will also find a plethora of information and updates in regard to the C-97 project. The video links and information has been posted with permission from Mr. Chopp.
The video of the arriving Candy Bomber and Santa Claus is below.
