12/06/2026
It’s hard to find words to do this moment justice. I’ve dreamt about it for fourteen years — but on 9 June 2026, it finally became reality.
To climb aboard Night Fright and sit in a cockpit just as it would have been on 6 June 1944, alongside Ben, knowing we were about to fulfil a long-held dream by flying her again — what a feeling.
Accelerating down the runway, watching her respond flawlessly after such a meticulous restoration, and lifting into the air in her wartime colours for the first time since the end of WWII was incredible.
What a team effort.
This was never the original plan. Back in November 2012, my father and I set out to find a C-47 that had flown from Membury, my childhood home.
The idea was a gate guardian — but that quickly wasn’t enough. She needed to fly. That’s when Neil Jones joined the team, bringing expertise that has been vital ever since.
Work began in Florida with the Moss family. From 2017, she moved to Coventry under Heritage Air Services, led by Ben Cox, with one ambition: to make Night Fright the finest and most authentic C-47 in the world.
We’ve achieved that. But this has always been about more than one aircraft — it’s about living history: honouring the past and inspiring future generations, alongside our museum at Membury.
There have been moments of excitement, despair and tears — and I wouldn’t change one. I’ve had the privilege to work with incredible people: engineers, volunteers, original aircrew and their families, and USAF and RAF personnel. Thank you.
To those too many to name — you know who you are. Special thanks to Neil Jones, Tom Woodhouse, Roger Day, Ben Cox, Mark Young, Heritage Air Services, Air Leasing, all volunteers, and Walker Logistics — none of this would have happened without you.
Thanks also to Indestructible Paints and all who backed our vision. And to Joe Harvey for capturing it all.
This isn’t the end — it’s just the beginning.
See you at an airfield soon!
