Historic C-47 aircraft that flew on D-Day at Mason City Municipal Airport through Saturday

MASON CITY — You’ll be seeing a historic C-47 World War II aircraft flying around Cerro Gordo County this weekend

The aircraft with the name “That’s All, Brother” was built in early 1944 and was the lead C-47 aircraft in a group of 800 C-47s that carried about 13,000 paratroopers to Normandy France on D-Day. The Commemorative Air Force Texas Wing currently owns and operates the plane.

Wing Leader Joe Enzminger talks about its historical significance.  “It was the main aircraft that led the invasion on D-Day. We’re here in Mason City to bring it out to the public. Our job is not to just put these airplanes in museums but it’s to get them in the air and make it so people come out, they can get in the airplane and experience what it might have been like to be an 18-year-old paratrooper on June 6th 1944. Our mission is to educate, honor and inspire.”

Enzminger says the aircraft is probably the most significantly historic one flying today.  “What makes it more important today is that it’s still with us. We managed to find it and restore it. It looks just like it would have looked on June 6th 1944. In fact it was a new airplane, it was built in March 1944, so it was practically new when it flew on D-Day. We’ve restored it to its original condition so you can see what it might have looked like inside and out. We do that so people can get a sense of what it was like on June 6th.”

You can see the aircraft on display through Saturday at the Mason City Municipal Airport. Flights for $249 are available through the website tour.thatsallbrother.org. After it’s stop in Mason City, the plane heads to the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture annual convention in Oshkosh Wisconsin.