    
    <center><h2>At D-Day +80 Years, A Part of The Air Operation Survives at The Aviation Museum of Kentucky</H2></center>
    <i>Contact:Tina Nance&nbsp;&nbsp;director@aviationky.org                                                                             </i><BR><BR>
    <div>Sunday, June 2, 2024 - <span style="font-size:20px">It is a humble olive-drab aircraft that participated in the largest amphibious operation of World War Two. The wingspan is just inches over thirty-five feet, the weight around 700 pounds. It was pulled through the sky by sixty-five horsepower and a two-blade propeller. Constructed of steel tubing and fabric covering, the gear was fixed and the tail dragged. There was a crew of two and any weapons were add-ons, as were the radios.<br />
One can see and appreciate the Piper-built L-4 at The Aviation Museum of Kentucky in Lexington. It may be the only aircraft type on display around the Commonwealth that was used in the June 6, 1944 invasion. Production statistics show that over 5,500 L-4&rsquo;s were built for the war effort.<br />
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Despite its size, the Piper L-4 liaison craft had a critical role. It served as an AOP: air observation post for calling in artillery fire. This concept of directing artillery from light aircraft has a strong connection to Kentucky. William Wallace Ford, who had been assigned to the EKU ROTC program during 1936-1939, saw this possibility prior to the war. By June 1942, Ford was the first director of air training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Using the civilian version of the L-4, the Piper J-3, Ford worked to develop techniques of low and slow flying and what is today STOL (short take-off and landing) with both enlisted men and officers.<br />
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On D-Day, some L-4&rsquo;s were aboard the multitude of landing craft approaching the beaches of Normandy. Disassembled for transport by sea, a number did not survive to be flown. Some L-4s flew in from England as the Allies moved inward, gaining range from auxiliary fuel tanks. The assignment of air observation post was soon supplemented with courier service flights, troop movement monitoring, senior office transport, and even flying chaplains for grave registration duties.&nbsp;<br />
The L-4 at The Aviation Museum of Kentucky sits on pylons raised from the museum floor. It is a fitting position of honor and dignity for the role of this aircraft as the anniversary of D-Day is observed.<br />
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For more information about the Aviation Museum of Kentucky and its programs, please visit www.aviationky.org.</span><br />
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