Our AMI road crew is busy at work, readying another DC-3 to return to the skies.We’re very excited about this project–she will represent a near full compliment of AMI’s offerings.

To be addressed are general aircraft systems overhaul, control surfaces repair/replacement, full interior renovation, paint strip, polish & paint; the list goes on. This project will take an estimated 18-24 months to complete, and we’ll keep you updated along the way!

Here are some photos from the ferry flight prep:A bum engine rearranged the schedule early on. After sitting dormant for nearly 20 years, we hoped that we would be able to wake her up gently and ferry her to Oregon, as can often be the case with these machines. The original plan was to ferry right away to our facility at KUAO, and begin to paint strip while the engines were away for overhaul. Instead, the extent of discovered internal engine damage meant we would send the engines to Anderson Aeromotive for overhaul from the plane’s current location. She’s going to receive a new livery…with polish and paint. (Yes! We said POLISH! Nothing more show-stopping on a DC-3…)This is just a demo to test a color against the polish on a small piece of cowling…but you get the sense of how good the polish will look. And check out the polished propellers, overhauled by American Propeller–beautiful work. This particular DC-3 is equipped with R-1830-94 engines, which, (fun fact) brings the total number of -94s that we at AMI regularly work with to 10.

Stay tuned, friends and fliers. She’s going to be a great one!

In June, we had the distinct pleasure of participating in the Daks Over Normandy event in connection with the Breitling sponsored DC-3 HB-IRJ.

A month has passed, but we still can’t stop thinking about the sight and sound of all of those DC-3s, C-47s, and an Li-2 gathered together to commemorate the sacrifices and achievements of DDay.

We gathered at the airfield in Lee on Solent, and flew in formation across the English Channel on June 5th, landing at Cherbourg Maupertus Airport. With Cherbourg as our base, we conducted sightseeing flights through the week, and soaked up as much round engine exposure as possible!

Under pensive skies in Lee:Some of the participating aircraft:

The world’s only airworthy Li-2, the Russian version of the C-47. Complete with a Huck Starter!Drag Em OotInside the Cockpit of the Air France DC-3Parajumpers readying:In formation: T6 Camera Ship:Taking in the sights during one spare day in Sainte Mère Eglise and Sainte Marie du Mont:Black Hawks visiting Cherbourg:

Of course, these pictures barely scratch the surface–check out www.daksovernormandy.com to see more background of this amazing event.