1 know, it was really called "Vittles" but we don't have those anymore and kids wouldn't know what we are talking about.
It was still March but I figured Germany had to be warmer than Alaska (I was wrong by the way) so I loaded up a DC-10 for an overnight flight from Anchorage to Hanover. 8AM and it was still dark but I arrived safely for a couple FOTMs in Europe.
After a few days' hangin' with Hans I was off to complete this historical FOTM. I loaded up a "Euro-Styled" P-51 Mustang and headed out from Hanover. I departed to the east and trimmed out at 900 feet AGL, keeping my speed around 160 I made at least a half-dozen low passes over Hans' neighborhood. I'm sure I woke some people up rudely! From there I continued south at 1,500 feet to the DLE VOR. Finally I turned back north and headed to Wundsdorf Airbase.
An hour later I had loaded up the Retro FLIGHT CLUB DC-4 (A new model but the same aircraft I had used ten years ago) with pallets of Skittles Candies and I was ready to go! Once cleared from "ground" I cranked the four engines and was directed to taxi to the west end of the airport for an east departure and immediate course correction to the NDB. Once over the Hannover NDB I tuned the HDG bug to the map heading toward the Berlin NDB and trimmed out for level flight. This part of Germany really is pretty darn flat.
Ten years ago I had to land from the east, keeping a tight left-hand pattern; this time my approach was Straight-In. I taxied to the terminal and shut down.
Ten years ..... a lot can happen in ten years. For example,ten years after Operation Vittles we had jet-powered aircraft, like the Handley-Page Vicker Bomber which I used to fly some low-level passes over Berlin.
From there I flew down to Geneva to get ready for the May Feature Flight.
