The Dallas / Fort Worth Wing’s 1944 Douglas R4D-6S Ready 4 Duty is preparing to accompany That’s All Brother to Europe to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 2024. There, Ready 4 Duty will represent the important contributions of the U.S. Navy and sailors during Operation Neptune, the naval component of Operation Overlord. The avionics and cockpit lighting must be upgraded to prepare for the journey. 

Preparations are well underway, which include the recent installation of a fresh #1 engine. With 12 Planes of Christmas donations, Ready 4 Duty’s avionics and cockpit lighting will be upgraded to broaden her operational capabilities in instrument and nighttime conditions.

As a World War II U.S. Naval veteran and transport aircraft, Ready 4 Duty is ideally suited to be a self-contained mobile museum. Wing members are in contact with various World War II Naval museums to acquire historic artifacts to accompany the aircraft to Normandy. Being billed as the Navy to Normandy Tour, DFW volunteers are eager to remind the public of the many contributions and sacrifices made by the U.S. Navy and sailors during World War II.

The DFW Wing’s R4D (Bureau Number 50783) was delivered to the U.S. Navy at Olathe, Kansas, in October 1944. She was assigned to VR-3, Naval Air Transport Service, where she transported wounded service members and cargo/supplies through April 1946. She was then transferred to Fleet Airborne Electronics Training Unit, Atlantic, and assigned to VX-1, an evaluation squadron at Key West, Florida, where she evaluated electronic “gadgets,” the nature of which remain classified. Ready 4 Duty finished her U.S. Navy career in NART, Naval Reserve Training, in 1959.