In the ground tour are a B-17, B-24 and P-51. The Wings of Freedom Tour visits 110 cities a year all over the country. The B-17 is one of only nine in flying condition in the United States. The B-24J is the sole remaining example of its type flying in the world. The P-51 Mustang was awarded the a grand champion award for restoration. Flight experiences are normally scheduled before and after the ground tour times. Continues through Oct. 12
I plan of taking some time off and heading up there to drool all over these things. For those of you in the area, they are here through Friday although the walk through tours end at noon on Friday (they end at 4:00 today and tomorrow). Those of you with more cash burning a hole in your pocket than I have can take a ride. $400 for the B-25, $450 for the B-17 or B-24 and $2200 (!) in the Mustang (the TF-51 two seat trainer version).
Shoot me an email if you plan on coming Friday morning and we can meet up.
Hat tip: The Queen Of The World, who finds awesome stuff.
We're going this afternoon. Rain tomorrow. Friday should be comfortably cool, though.
ReplyDeleteMost definitely awesome stuff!
ReplyDeleteI used to go to the Planes of Fame airshow every year in Chino. One year they had a B-17 escorted by six P-51D's go by, and it was music!
Can't make it on Friday: I still work :-(
ReplyDeleteThanks for the announcement, though. One of these days, I will save up enough to fly in a 51, the kind that they had to pay my dad to fly.
$15 per adult to get in for self-directed tours of the planes. The B-24 and B-17 you could get into! (So cool! Unmanly fanboy squee!) The B-25 you could touch and look in the bomb bay. The P-51 was off limits, but not too far for decent pictures.
ReplyDeleteDecent merch, but I didn't buy any.
A client, who became a friend, flew B-17s over Europe.
ReplyDeleteHe still had a piece of shrapnel that had landed in his lap after it had ricocheted around the cockpit.
He, also, flew a taildragger for the CIA into North Korea and then Skyraiders over the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
I hope his stories do not die with me, but are retold around campfires for many generations to come.
He gave me a small Buck knife with mother-of-pearl scales.
It is my Sunday-Go-To-Meeting knife.
I think of him and the stories he shared, with humor, every time I slip it into my coat pocket.
Hopefully these planes will freshen the memories of those who still surviive so that "he'll remember, with advantages, what feats he did this day." , so that the stories may long be told.
They may have rightfully earned the title of "The Greatest Generation", but an even greater test lies ahead for this nation, and we will need the remembrances of these men to carry us through the coming trials.