Imagine it’s 1943, during the heat of the Second World War … you’re flying low over the North Atlantic in an Air Force B-24 bomber. Four propeller engines are roaring outside of the plane’s cabin combining in force with the wind whipping through open windows and you are seated in the bombardier’s seat searching the water below for enemy U-boats.
For a WWII veteran, that scene or even just the sight and sounds of those planes will likely stir up a rush of aging but poignant memories, for others its complete historical fantasy.
But starting today at the Bremerton National Airport, at the tune of about $400, Kitsap residents of each category will be given the opportunity to buckle into the seats of the Allied bomber pilots and crews who fought in the deadliest global conflict in human history.
Annually, the Collings Foundation — based in Stow, Mass., Online at www.cfdn.org — tours the country with restored relics to educate new generations on their history and honor those who served aboard. Its Wings of Freedom Tour will fly into Bremerton June 13-15.
The planes will arrive around 2 p.m. today and will be staying through 1 p.m. Friday.
“It’s up to our generation now to keep this history alive,” said Kitsap event coordinator Cindy Brooke. “(The Collings Foundation) presents a perfect face to face opportunity for people of all generations to learn more about what (these airmen) experienced.”
At the cost of $425 for a 30-minute session, one can fly aboard the B-17 “Nine-O-Nine” or the B-24 “Witchcraft” and aesthetically experience a small piece of what it was like to be in the cockpit, to man the waist guns or operate the radios, etc.
At a much lighter price, visitors will be able to take a look at the planes while they are on the ground and possibly talk to a veteran who has such flight experience.
“It is a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” said Brooke who has toured both a B-17 and B-24 in flight. “You have the opportunity to explore most of the aircraft while the plane is in flight. You can poke your head out the windows, you can go up to the nose and sit in the bombardier seat … it’s a total experience, the noise, the sound, the smell.”
The B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator models were two of the most widely used weapons of mass destruction for Allied forces in World War II.
The big-bodied B-24, in fact, holds the record as the most produced Allied aircraft, utilized by every branch of the service during the war. The B-17, however, with a more sleek design and durability that earned it an almost mythical status, is said to have been favored among Allied crews.
Both models have been touted regionally over the past 14 years in which the Collings tour has made stops in the area, alternating between the Tacoma Narrows and Bremerton National airports.
This year, another WWII-era aircraft will be introduced to the Pacific Northwest as the B-25 Mitchell “Tondelayo” — a two-engine medium-sized bomber — joins the tour at a price of $400 for forward fuselage passengers, $325 for the rear.
“You’ve never seen bigger smiles than on the people when they get off the plane,” Brooke said.
Brooke, a Hansville resident, has been involved with the Collings Foundation and it’s Wings of Freedom Tour since its Bremerton debut in 1993 which was spearheaded largely by her father, Jack, who though not a veteran, was of that era and had the utmost appreciation for the veterans’ service, she said.
This living exhibit of WWII warplanes has been a heavy draw for veterans, their families and those who admire them and their machines, drawing hundreds, Brooke noted.
In addition to the aircraft that will be on display, Brooke said they are also expecting a few Tuskeegee airmen — a distinguished group of African-American WWII pilots — to be on hand along with a number of displays which will be set up throughout the airport terminal.
