The Texas Zephyr has landed: Years and tears bring iconic WWII plane to Burnet
The Texas Zephyr on May 21 when it landed at Kate Craddock Field in Burnet after five years of renovation in a hangar in Brady. The Zephyr is one of five operational C-47s owned by Commemorative Air Force squadrons in the world. Photo by Stennis Shotts
A massive, airplane-shaped hole in the heart of the Highland Lakes Squadron of the Commemorative Air Force was recently filled after a five-year wait, making the local squadron one in five in the world with an operational C-47 World War II-era cargo plane.
Just last May, the Texas Zephyr became the shining centerpiece of the local CAF, replacing the Bluebonnet Belle, which was destroyed in a 2018 crash just after takeoff. Everyone on board survived.
“There are squadrons all over the country and overseas, but there always seems to be extra prestige when you’re a big airplane squadron,” said Kirk Noaker, executive officer of the Highland Lakes Squadron. “The Commemorative Air Force only has five operational C-47s, and we have one of them in the entire world. We take a lot of pride in that with the squadron.”
CAF squadrons around the world are dedicated to venerating the legendary aircraft that took to the skies during World War II. The C-47s hauled troops and equipment for Allied forces in the European and Pacific theaters. They were called Skytrains by the U.S. Army, R4Ds by the U.S. Navy, and Dakotas by the British Royal Air Force. Best of all, the troops called them “Gooney Birds” after the enormous, awkward albatrosses that lived on a U.S. military base on the Midway Islands in the Pacific.
The Texas Zephyr’s story is one of blood, sweat, and tears, beginning from nuts and bolts on an Oklahoma City factory floor and ending as a CAF icon 78 years later at the Burnet hangar of the Highland Lakes Squadron.
The newly conscripted C-47 first reported to duty in England as the second war came to an end. It then deployed to the Royal Canadian Air Force, where it spent 30 years reliably shuttling troops for that country’s military. It retired to the civilian sector in 1977, eventually landing in the hands of Karl Ritter, who named it the Texas Zephyr.
Ritter poured his heart and soul into restoring the plane to its former glory, but his health was failing by 2019 and he sought out the Highland Lakes Squadron to continue his work.
“This plane was a baby project for (Ritter),” Noaker said. “As he was getting increasingly more sick, he wanted that plane to end up in good hands that would keep working on it.”
Ritter died within two weeks of turning the Zephyr over to the Highland Lakes CAF. Members immediately began restoring it at its hangar in Brady with high hopes of having it ready for the 2020 Bluebonnet Airshow that March. Those dreams had a rude awakening when the COVID-19 pandemic brought public events to a halt and volunteer mechanics were homebound. As the pandemic wore on, supply chain issues made it difficult to get needed parts.
“It just seemed like it was a perfect storm of what could go wrong was going wrong,” Noaker said. “We had deadline after deadline that passed. We had some dates that were very ambitious and some dates that were very conservative, and we ended up blowing through all of them.”
Next came mechanical issues discovered when engineers cranked on the engines.
“Bad things happen to airplanes that don’t fly,” Noaker explained. “They have to be flown. They want to be flown.”
The 1,200-horsepower Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engines of the C-47 are old, complicated, and expensive. Few people know how to work on them, and every nut and bolt seemed to be months away as global industries ground to a halt from the economic impact of the pandemic.
Things looked up in 2022. Members of the Central Texas Squadron in San Marcos loaned their Highland Lakes compatriots a C-47 engine from their plane That’s All Brother. They also helped restore the Zephyr.
Crews of 15-20 volunteers worked almost every weekend throughout the year, and by January 2023, they were in the home stretch. On a cloudy May day, after nearly 3½ years of grit and toil, a glistening Texas Zephyr landed at Kate Craddock Field in Burnet.
“There’s a real value in being able to walk up to an airplane and step inside or watch it fly,” Noaker said. “At some point, when it just turns into a static piece in a museum or something you read about in a book, it’s going to lose its luster. The fact that we’re able to actually pull that airplane out of the hangar has a resounding effect on people who are watching.”
The Highland Lakes Squadron can now plan for the Zephyr’s future. Members might lean into the plane’s Royal Canadian Air Force service by painting all but its shiny belly white with a red and blue ring near the tail.
The arrival of the Texas Zephyr has boosted squadron membership and reinvigorated public interest in its plans and projects.
“Once we got the Zephyr here, we started getting inquiries from pilots and membership numbers rose,” Noaker said. “I feel like we’re seeing some of this positivity and progress reverberate outside of the squadron and into the community.”
The Zephyr’s new lease on life and name have proven fortuitous. A zephyr by definition is “a soft, gentle breeze.” It comes from the name of the Greek god Zephyrus, who was the personification of the western wind. Zephyrus was known for being the most gentle of winds, and a lover of flowers, so it’s fitting the Zephyr flew from Brady in the west to land safely in a region of bluebonnets, where it will be revered and respected for decades to come.
Aviation fans can see the Zephyr fly at the Bluebonnet Airshow held in March each year or at the Highland Lakes Squadron museum at Kate Craddock Field, 2402 U.S. 281 South in Burnet.