During the Warbirds Over the Beach Air Show on October 5-6, the museum will host a supply drive to help the communities in North Carolina damaged by Hurricane Helene.

• READ MORE: DOD Ups Military Helene Aid Response

“We have seen impacts from the storm across the Mid-Atlantic, and our upcoming air show is no exception,” said museum director Keegan Chetwynd, adding that many of the volunteers who help out during the annual show reside in the areas where storm damage was at its worst. “Hearing those stories had the museum staff and our volunteers wondering, what can we do to help?”

The museum is coordinating with support teams in North Carolina to gather supplies. Among the items requested are bottled water and water purification tablets, diapers for both babies and adults, baby food, including lactose-free baby formula, toilet paper, paper towels, nonperishable food, coolers, raincoats, shovels, first-aid supplies, blankets, socks and underwear, brooms, Clorox wipes, and other cleaning supplies.

At the end of the show, the gathered supplies will be loaded aboard the Douglas C-47 Skytrain, flown by The Liberty Foundation, a nonprofit flying museum in Douglas, Georgia. 

• READ MORE: The Goodness of Colonel Halvorsen, the Candy Bomber

Berlin Airlift

The C-47 is a versatile design that has carried everything from paratroopers participating in D-Day to pallets of canned food, flour, coal, clothing, and medicine during the Berlin Airlift. 

The airlift was the result of the post-World War II Soviet Union creating a blockade around the city of Berlin. The only way in or out was by air, prompting the British, American, and French forces to fly around the clock to move supplies into the beleaguered city. The airlift began on June 24, 1948, and ended on May 12, 1949.

About the Airshow

Warbirds Over the Beach is the annual fundraiser for the nonprofit museum. The weekend features a living history encampment, complete with armored vehicles, weapons demonstrations, vintage vocal performances, food trucks, and WWII aircraft flying from the museum’s private grass runway.

• READ MORE: Rare German Fighter Is Back in the Sky

Proceeds are used to support the education programs and provide for the maintenance of the museum collection.

Anyone wishing to donate supplies without attending the show can drop off items at a collection point installed at the museum’s main entrance. 

The post WWII-Era Douglas C-47 to Once Again Haul Humanitarian Supplies appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Though close to 34,000 Messerschmitt Me-109s were produced, only a handful are currently flying. The Military Aviation Museum’s Me-109G-4 is one of the very few flying to be powered by its original Daimler Benz DB 605 inverted V-12 engine.

Ironically, postwar Spanish-built Buchon versions of the German fighter were powered by the same Rolls-Royce Merlin that was installed on British fighters during WWII.

The Virginia museum features a stable of three dozen WWII vintage aircraft, including Me-109 stablemate Focke Wulf Fw-190 and its adversaries, the P-51 Mustang, Supermarine Spitfire, and Hawker Hurricane.

The Me-109 was restored from the remains of WkNr (Production Number) 19257 flown by Feldwebel Viktor Peterman on a mission over the Eastern Front. Russian fighters damaged his cooling system. He force-landed and walked four days to get back to his base. From the remains, Meier Motors in Eschbach, Germany, performed the restoration.

The Me-109 is just now emerging from more than a year of heavy maintenance. It made its first post-maintenance flight on September 9. Last week, Military Aviation Museum chief pilot Mike Spalding flew the Messerschmitt again and declared it ready for this weekend’s show.

WATCH: Flying the Bf-109

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.

The post Rare German Fighter Is Back in the Sky appeared first on FLYING Magazine.