Miss Montana makes stop at Thompson Falls

Impressive is an understatement when describing the C-47/DC-3 aircraft known as the “Miss Montana.”

Its history has been more than impressive. The sight of the gleaming silver bird flying overhead and the thought of what it must have been like when hundreds of the twin-engine mainstays of World War II flew across the English Channel on their way to the beaches above Normandy had to be beyond a simple word.

The fact the beloved plane keeps flying and is in good health is also beyond impressive.

But the single most “impressive” thing about the Miss Montana is the lasting memories it has come to symbolize to a continually awestruck group of fans and aviation enthusiasts.

So as the big bird circled overhead, releasing a small group of parachutists in two momentous passes above Thompson Falls this past Saturday morning, it’s easy to see why so many people were shading their eyes and pointing their cameras skyward with each fly by.

And as the plane, originally a C-47 but later updated to a DC-3, rolled to a stop in front of the group of fans at the T-Falls Airport, an impressive outburst of applause, admiration, nostalgia and love engulfed the tiny airfield and the group of several hundred people who came to see her.

Saturday’s event was organized by local resident Ruth Cheney, a retired Army Colonel who came up with the idea as a way to honor fellow Thompson Falls resident Norm Allen, who flew in C-47s during the D-Day invasion of Europe, and later as a smoke jumper helping battle forest fires throughout the region.

Colonel Cheney was on hand to honor Allen, a longtime friend, and keep his storied legacy alive. Allen died in 2013.

“Norm did it all,” Cheney said of the highly decorated member of the 17th Airbone Division that was part of the first wave of Allied soldiers to see action in the opening hours of the D-Day assault. “Everyone who knew him loved him”.

Cheney and others said Saturday’s event was originally planned for three years ago, but the Miss Montana was called to duty at that time to help deliver supplies to disaster victims in Haiti.

The visit had been scheduled the past two years, but the Co-vid epidemic canceled those plans.

For aviation fans, the landing was a chance to remember the plane and the many battles it has survived. That included Jonathon Fuetes of Missoula, a current smoke jumper and veteran of several flights in the Miss Montana.

“I was fortunate enough to be on the plane a few years ago when we flew in a re-enactment of the Normandy invasion”, Fuentes said following his jump into the blue skies above Thompson Falls. “I love jumping out of this plane and I was extremely honored to be part of the flyover and jump in Normandy a few years ago”.

The plane has been used primarily for flying smoke jumpers into otherwise inaccessible forest fire areas, and was the plane that dropped jumpers in the infamous Mann Gulch fire of 1949 that claimed the lives of 13 smoke jumpers.

In recent years, the plane has served in a promotional and ceremonial roll for an increasing number of events such as the T Falls landing.

One of those who continues to be impressed with the Miss Montana and its abilities is Al Charters, jump master for a Missoula based smoke jumper group.

“That is just a good plane to fly in,” he said as he emerged from the cabin. “Very smooth workhorse of a plane”.

Those comments were echoed by pilot Art Dykstra, who has been at the controls of the Miss Montana for three years.

“They built this plane to be tough,” Dykstra said. “It is heavy control wise, kind of like a farm truck with no power steering. But it is a joy and honor to fly a plane like this”.

Like Fuentes, Dykstra said the highlight of being at the controls of the legendary aircraft was flying over the Normandy coast during the re-enactment.

“It is already a privilege to fly this plane,” he said. “It is also a huge honor. During the re-enactment of the D-Day event, we were one of only 10 planes to drop paratroopers. Imagine what it must have been like to have the skies filled with these other other planes on the morning of the invasion.”

Air Force veteran/retiree Charley Owen was on hand Saturday to see the plane up close and personal after having flown in it just once.

“I was part of a softball team participating in a tournament at Fairchild Air Force Base (outside of Spokane) and when we won that tournament, we were told we needed to be in Alabama in a couple days if we wanted to compete in the Air Force tournament finals. “The only plane available at that time was a DC-3 and we found that laying on the floor of the cabin was a better ride than the jump seats,” he laughed. “You could get 16 fully armed paratroopers in there so we were able to get the whole team loaded and made the tournament in time”.

“Flying in the C-47 was a hell of a ride.”

The Miss Montana is currently based at the Missoula Airport where mechanics take pride in keeping her flying.