On June 6, 1944 the Western Allies launched one of the largest operations of WWII – the invasion of Normandy. American, British and Canadian armies would land at beaches codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. In the air above them was an aerial armada of everything from heavy bombers to gliders and in the mix was the Douglas DC-3, converted to military operation in the form of the C-47. Microsoft Flight Simulator together with Aeroplane Heaven have released a C-47 to the sim and I thought it’d be great to check it out and fly all along the historic beaches with the aircraft.

From Le Havre down to Point du Hoc

For tonight’s flight, I decided to take a scenic tour flying from Le Havre – Octeville Airport (LFOH) down to the famous Point Du Hoc. This 110 foot cliff jutting out into The Channel was a German stronghold and a key point between Utah and Omaha beaches. It was taken in a daring raid during the invasion and today is home to various memorials and the remains of the WWII era bunkers.

My aircraft of choice was one half of the Famous Flyer 09 duo: the C-47. This aircraft is very similar to the DC-3 already in the sim with a few military specific modifications and some features that I didn’t have time to dive into tonight. But it does look pretty good on the outside!

The interior of this historical aircraft is also pretty good overall. Nearly everything in the cockpit appears to function and a few extra bonus switches and controls help manage the cargo doors remotely as well as offer a quick start function. There are a few textures that don’t really pass close inspection and I find there is a fair bit of gloss here in places that I think should be more matte in appearances.

Moving on from my mini-review back there, it was time to start the airplane and get underway. Taxiing over to runway 22, I declared taxi and then takeoff intentions at the uncontrolled field and we were on our way!

Then I settled in for a comfortable cruise along the Normandy coastline down to Point Du Hoc. It was an easy landmark to find and the facilities, pathways, bunker and parking lot of the modern day memorial was even easier to locate.

I wasn’t the only one with the idea of visiting this historical location as I noted dozens of other users online flying along the coastline and checking out this and other nearby landmarks.

I even spotted and briefly flew formation with another C-47. No doubt doing the same thing as I was! If you’re reading this… hello!

After that, it was time to head back. I reversed my course and flew along the familiar coastline that I’ve virtually flown above hundreds or even thousands of times over the last couple of decades of combat flight sims. This marked the first time I had ventured here in MSFS so it was an interesting experience in its own right.

After that it was a reasonably good landing on the two main gears before bringing it down on all three and then taxi and power off for a successful sortie and a good way to mark this important moment in history – eighty years on.