Documentary about WWII airplane premiers on Monday, D-Day anniversary
A C-47 transport plane rolled off the assembly line in Oklahoma City in 1944. Less than three months later, it carried paratroopers over Normandy on D-Day.
Then after almost 80 years, after it returned from Europe, serviced an Oklahoma City oil company and was put on display – first at the State Fairgrounds and then in Midwest City – a locally produced documentary tells that amazing journey.
The film, Skytrain, debuts in its first public showing on Monday, June 6, the anniversary of its D-Day mission. It will be shown for free at 1 p.m. at the Rose State College Student Union.
Skytrain was written and produced by Gary Banz, a former state representative known for his work with veterans and senior citizens through Oklahoma Honor Flights and VillagesOKC. His grandson, Southern Nazarene University film graduate Nathan Livingston, directed and edited the 29-minute documentary.
"I can't put a price tag on doing a project like that with family," Banz said. "That was reward enough."
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Banz, who represented Midwest City in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, worked for years to restore the C-47 and find a new home after years of neglect. In 2017, the aircraft finally arrived, freshly painted and restored, to the Veteran's Memorial at Joe B. Barnes Regional Park.
That move was spurred on when someone reached out to Banz, saying they learned their uncle on D-Day had jumped out of the same C-47 that was sitting in disrepair at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds.
Since then, he's identified another living relative among the 17 men who rode this Skytrain into battle. The son of Newell Blalock will be at the documentary premier Monday.
Over 5,000 C-47s were manufactured in Oklahoma City on what's now Tinker Air Force Base.
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Staff writer Dale Denwalt covers Oklahoma's economy and business news for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Dale? He can be reached at ddenwalt@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @denwalt. Support Dale’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: A documentary about a WWII airplane built in OKC premiers Monday
