They found something truly important to our history

[hardware]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/caf/save-the-airplane-that-led-the-d-day-invasion

They found the C-47 that led the D-Day invasion!

They're working on trying to get the money together to get her somewhere to restore said plane, and doing swimmingly so far. They're currently about 40k over the original goal, and have set another goal for 250k, which should fund most of the actual restoration on top of the rest.

Thought y'all would be interested in hearing about it!

[hardware]

Thanks for taking the time to look, PB!

[smokeywolf]

I remember them when they were still known as the "Confederate Air Force". Too bad they felt the need to change the name to something that was "politically correct". Used to see them practicing for a local air show. Also had a member at a local airport that flew an AT-6.

[hardware]

As young as I am, I remember hearing them called that when I was a little younger as well.

[MaryB]

Way cool! Love to see these old planes restored and made available to people.

[Fishman]

Very cool and thanks for sharing.

[RogerDat]

I love museums! Think it is great that this outfit is doing what it is doing and getting so much nationwide support. Thanks for spreading the word.

From this it appears the original name was a joke, reflecting how rag tag the outfit was. While deciding to use a name without any negative baggage might qualify as "politically correct" whatever the heck that term really means, changing the name to better represent what they did as in "commemorate" rather than "confederate" probably did help fund raising on a nation wide scale. Imagine a lot of people would simply not consider donations to a "Confederate" group and would donate to a commemorative historical organization.

Most of us know the CSA did not have an air force (outside of some balloons) so for those not aware of the groups actual purpose (which for decades would be most people) the connotation was along the lines of creating a confederate air force. With the militia thing getting bad press a name change that clarifies their purpose makes financial and PR sense. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commemorative_Air_Force#Name

If it works better it is generally considered a smarter idea. Think about the toilet paper product names, none of them are called butt-B-clean, they are called Charmin, or Cottenelle. Names matter when trying to sell something to the public. Better name is better idea.

Even the Yankee Air Museum changed its name http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/michigan/2014/10/30/yankee-air-museum-willow-run-bomber-plant-national-museum-aviation-technology-historic-willow-run/18179273/

It was pretty cool that they were able to scoop up a chunk of the old willow run bomber plant in the GM bankruptcy for their new facility. They are local and I have not been there in several years (moved further away) but it might be worth a trip this summer.