Whiteside County D-3 Reunion Triumphant Success: The Last Time Enters the Record Books

    July 28, 2010
    The official "Last Time" DC-3 REUNION at AirVenture will be held on Thursday, July 29, at ORION, the FBO on the north side of the field at OSH at 7:30 p.m.!

    Oshkosh, Wisc. (July 28, 2010) – The Last Time reunion entered the record books as people joined together from all around the world to celebrate, honor, and remember. The year 2010 marks the 75th anniversary of the first flight of the iconic Douglas DC-3 and what is likely to be last time for a large reunion of aluminum and engines with the people that saw it all.

    In spite of some challenging weather, and the never-ending maintenance logistics involved in flying a 75-year-old airplane, at one point, 28 DC-3s and C-47s -- and one of two of the only flying DC-2s in the world -- were parked on the ramp at Whiteside County Airport, in Rock Falls, Illinois. Of those, 23 airplanes formed up in the skies over Illinois on Monday, July 26, to create a record-setting mass formation -- the largest formation of these aircraft to occur since World War II. That morning, the event’s organizers received a call from EAA clearing the formation into the AirVenture airspace at 2,500 feet MSL. EAA had solved the logistics of recovering and parking a multitude of the large airplanes (each with a wingspan of 96 feet) in the midst of water-soaked show grounds, and the arrival could come into Oshkosh as originally intended.

    The flight maneuvered on to a 40-mile final for a show pass down Runway 9 at AirVenture. With the Herpa DC-3 as lead and coming over top, the order was given: "This is it boys, tighten her up, lights on, smoke on!" After passing directly over AirVenture, the flight broke for landing on 5-second intervals and formed a single-ship line of 23 DC-3s perfectly spaced with gear down at 100 knots, and landing checks complete. The continuous conga line of expertly spaced Douglas aircraft was cleared to land on Runway 18. All aircraft were down and clear in an amazing 16 minutes and 34 seconds.

    “We had a resounding success,” says Dan Gryder, of Hampton, Georgia, the organizer of the event, and pilot of the Herpa DC-3, the lead aircraft in the mass formation of DC-3s and C-47s over Oshkosh. “We want to thank everyone that volunteered their time, energy, and airplanes to make this event such a true celebration of the people who created and flew the Douglas DC-3. The people of Rock Falls are to be congratulated for showing exceptional hospitality and ensuring the event ran like clockwork. The pilots and crews of the DC-3s that joined in are keeping these airplanes flying through their 75th year through massive efforts, and need to be thanked for this ongoing labor of love.”

    NOTICE: The official “Last Time” DC-3 REUNION at AirVenture has been changed and is now called “Theater in the Hood.” This will be held on Thursday, July 29, at ORION, the FBO on the north side of the field at OSH! Admission is free. A group DC-3 pilot photo will be taken at this event. Meet all the mass arrival DC-3 pilots and crews in person! See you there at 7:30 pm!

    ABOUT “THE LAST TIME”

    The Last Time is an organization created for the sole purpose of reuniting flying examples of the Douglas DC-3 and the people associated with them, for one last time. The goal of the organization is to celebrate this aircraft and to honor the people who flew them. For more information regarding this exciting event, please visit www.thelastime.org.