75th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift - When "Candy Bombers" Supplied West Berlin

More than 75 years ago, the Airlift began to supply West Berliners cut off by the Soviet blockade. It was a mammoth logistical task.

It was the largest air supply operation in history, which began on June 26, 1948. And it was one of the most spectacular actions of the Cold War that had begun between the former allies against Hitler's Germany. Whereas just a few years earlier the planes of the Americans and the British had reduced the then Reich capital to rubble day and night, they were now the only lifeline for the 2.2 million West Berliners to the rest of the free world.

After the Soviets left the Allied Control Council of the Four Powers and the Reichsmark was replaced by the Deutsche Mark in the 3 other sectors and West Germany, an éclat ensued: on the morning of June 24, 1948, the Soviet military administration interrupted all road and rail traffic between Berlin and the Western zones that later became the Federal Republic of Germany.

Later, the waterways were closed, so that food and coal deliveries to the western sectors of Berlin were no longer possible by this route either. The Western powers were to be induced to withdraw their troops from the city, according to Moscow's calculations.

In response to this show of force, the American military governor for Germany gave the order for the airlift. Originally planned for a maximum of only 45 days, the logistical feat took on ever greater proportions.

The minimum requirement for supplying West Berlin was up to 5,000 tons per day. For this reason, Tempelhof and Gatow airports each had to be extended by a second runway. In addition, some 19,000 Berliners, under the guidance of American and French technicians, built a new airport in Tegel within 85 days. This provided additional landing facilities for aircraft taking off from eleven West German airfields.

On May 4, 1949, the Soviet government relented, and a week later the blockade was lifted.

The efforts of the Western Allies in the airlift, in which 78 pilots and ground personnel also lost their lives, strengthened the Germans' confidence in the Western camp.

You fly to and from the historic airports of the Airlift: Lübeck Blankensee, Hamburg, Wunstdorf, Celle, Schleswig, Buckeburg, Wiesbaden, Frankfurt/Main, Oberpfaffenhofen and of course Berlin-Tempelhof. In 3 missions you will fly a historic Candy Bomber C-47, the military version of the DC-3, through the 3 air corridors of the Soviet occupation zone. Be careful not to leave the corridors.

The package contains

• 3 missions accross the air corridors of the Soviet occupation zone to and from Berlin
• Tempelhof Airport
• Livery "Candy Bomber" (special thanks to Frizz)
• 3 historical navigation aids (VORDME TOF-Tempelhof, NDB DIP-Planter and NDB DBR-Helmholtz)
• Scenery Airlift (EDDI, EDHL, ETNW, ETHC, ETNS, ETHB, ETOU, EDMO)

Available languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Korean and Turkish. Some languages are machine translated. If something is wrong, please contact us so we can adjust it.

Never forget the candies for the Berlin children. They are already waiting for you!

Koschi and Nordheim Missions wish you Happy Landings!