This World War II 1944 Douglas C-47 Skytrain is expected to land on Mackinac Island Saturday, September 5. Throughout the day, the aircraft, which is part of the Yankee Air Museum collection, will be available for free public tours at the Mackinac Island Airport. (Photograph courtesy of Yankee Air Museum) One, possibly two World War II airplanes will fly over the Mackinac Bridge Saturday, September 5. The flight over the bridge by a 1944 Douglas C-47 Skytrain is estimated to be seen at approximately 10:15 a.m. The plane will circle the bridge twice before landing at Mackinac Island, where it will be available for free public tours throughout the day.

Current plans call for the plane to come from the south and pass over the bridge east to west.

The white and polished aluminum C-47, the military version of the old DC-3 airliner, saw heavy service as a transport plane, both for supplies and paratroopers, during World War II.

The plane is being flown here by the Dispatch Riders, a motorcycle group affiliated with the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run Airport in Belleville. If repaired, V-77 Stinson Reliant will join in the flight. The military version (SR-10) of The high-wing, single engine Reliant was used as trainer and utility plane.

Larry Amprim, manager of the Dispatch Riders, said the group’s name is taken from those who rode motorcycles during World War I and World War II serving as couriers transporting battle plans. His group organizes charity events to benefit the museum and, once a year, they take a tour by air, this year to the Straits of Mackinac. On board the plane will be 15 Dispatch Riders and three crew members.

“We’ve got 15 people from 35 to 65 years old who are as excited as kids on Christmas Eve,” Mr. Amprim said of the adventure. “The airplane is loud and it smells like burned gasoline vapors and it shakes, and it probably will be cold, and it will be the best day we have had in years.”

Once the plane has passed over the bridge, he said, the last counter clockwise circle will serve as an approach to the Mackinac Island airport.

“The landing is pretty dramatic,” Mr. Amprim said of the C-47. “This airplane was built in 1944. You’ll hear it. When we are 40 miles out you will hear it. With two 1,200 horsepower radial engines, it makes quite a racket.”

Once on the Island, crew and passengers will visit Grand Hotel and tour the Island, and the plane will be open for free public tours.

“People can see what the paratrooper went through in 1944,” said Mr. Amprim.

The plane is expected to begin preparing to taxi down the runway for its return trip about 5:30 p.m.

The group plans to do a fly over an air show on their way north and are looking forward to the photographic opportunities. Normally, the plane flies at about 1,500 feet, but he estimates they will be at approximately 700-feet to 1,000-feet when they arrive at the Straits.

The C-47 is one of four aircraft that is regularly flown by the museum, which is housed at Willow Run Airport, where Ford Motor Company built B-24 Liberator bombers in 1941.

The museum’s mission is to educate visitors, particularly children, about the state’s history.

“We exist for the education of youngsters that didn’t know Detroit was called the Arsenal of Democracy,” said Mr. Amprim. Ford built tanks, jeeps, and B-24 bombers. The Packard Motor Car Company built engines for planes.

“The majority of wheeled and tracked goods came out of Detroit,” he said. “Kids eyes light up when they hear the real story of the 1940s. It is so vague and remote to them until they get to touch this airplane [C-47] and realize it was made before their grandfather was born. When their eyes light up, we feel like we have accomplished the task of keeping the message and the history alive.”

In a 2004 fire, the museum lost about 25 years of memorabilia when the hanger burned, said Mr. Amprim.

“Heroic people pushed the airplanes out of the burning hanger,” he said. “So we retrieved our four aircraft, but everything else was lost. We had about eight Curtiss- Wright Cyclone engines in the cans that were hermetically sealed and they burned and created a puddle of aluminum. That engine today is worth about $165,000, and we lost six of those.”

In addition to the C-47 and the V-77 Stinson Reliant, the museum has a B-17 Flying Fortress and a B-25 Mitchell.

“We are attempting to let everyone know everywhere that we are back and we are not giving up,” he said. “We are going to build a new hanger.”

A non-profit organization, the Dispatch Riders hold events across the country. Members are looking for a World War II Harley-Davidson motorcycle for the museum collection.

The museum also is looking for benefactors, he said.

“Any memorabilia, books, medals, and stories, we want to obtain to be able to keep that history alive in the name of that individual whose boots were on the ground and fought in the war,” said Mr. Amprim.