“Operation Thanks From Above” organized by the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, held a day long flyover in WNY to salute local first responders, medical and essential workers who are serving the WNY area during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Douglas C-47, “Whiskey 7,” accompanied by a P-51 Mustang named “Mad Max”, arrived in the Batavia area around noon, flying over the VA Medical Center on Richmond avenue and then UMMC.
Chris Kuehl was at the grounds at the Batavia VA to view the plane that flew over Normandy. According to the National Warplane Museum, on D-Day, June 6, 1944, Whiskey 7 was the lead ship in the second wave of troop carrier aircraft dropping the 82nd Airborne Division near the French village of St. Mere Eglise.
Kuehl says her dad, Henry Klein, served in WWII and landed at Omaha Beach during D-Day, he was only 19. He recently passed away and Kuehl was very emotional about seeing Whiskey 7 fly over today.
“For me, I’m missing my dad, we had a lot of talks about what happened in the war. It’s just hard. I heard this plane flew over Normandy, so I wanted to come see it,” says Kuehl.
According to a couple tracking Whiskey 7 and Mad Max, the pair of vintage planes flew over Batavia at about 170mph at 1400 feet.