Wings of Freedom Tour
Since 1989, a major focus of the Foundation has been the “Wings of Freedom Tour” of WWII aircraft.
This tour showcases two fully restored bomber aircraft: a B-24 Liberator and B-17 Flying Fortress. The newest addition to the Wings of Freedom Tour is a WWII P-51D Mustang dual-control fighter aircraft.
The Foundation’s 1944 vintage Consolidated B-24J Liberator is painted as “Witchcraft”, an 8th AF bomber that flew a record 130 missions over Europe as part of the 467 th BG. The Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress flew as “Nine-O-Nine”, an 8 th Air Force, 91 st BG heavy bomber until an accident in October, 2019. The B-17 was the companion of the B-24 in thousands of wartime, bombing, and reconnaissance missions. Together they were the backbone of the daylight strategic bombing campaign of WWII. Joining the bombers is a TF-51D Mustang escort fighter “Toulouse Nuts”. The P-51 was affectionately nicknamed by the bomber crews as their “Little Friends”. The P-51 Mustang and the pilots who flew them saved countless lives in the skies and on the ground, and helped turn the tide of WWII. The P-51 is arguably the finest fighter aircraft in the history of aviation.
However I was able to fly in a Mitchell B-25 Bomber which was the one my Uncle Ed flew in the South Pacific. Click on the photos to see the take off and some flight (cut to minute six just for the flight).
