Wings of Freedom Tour Diary http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/wof-weblog.php Updates and News From the B-17 & B-24 Crew on the "Road" eng Copyright 2005 2005-04-22T08:09:47-07:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 2005 Southwest Tour Summary http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=7 http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=7#comm 2005 Southwest Tour Summary The B-17 & B-24 officially entered the West Coast portion of the Wings of Freedom Tour on April 18th, marking the completion of the Southwest portion of the tour. The bombers visited Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada this year and saw a tremendous response at all visits! The first visit of the season was Dunnellon, FL for a weekend visit sponsored by the Yankee Air Force Florida Division. Both the B-17 & B-25 visited along with the newly repainted B-24 Liberator "Witchcraft" at her first public appearance ever! The crowds were great at this airfield, which happens to be an original Army Air Force training field in Central Florida. Organizers Carolyn & Claude Mills did an outstanding job yet again and we look forward to returning again next year! Here is a shot of the B-24 departing for her first ride of the season. Take a look at all those names on the side of the plane... they are the folks who have contributed over the years to keep the B-24 flying. It is no small task applying these names and we are thankful to Dr. Paul "Maddog" Vasconi for his patience and hard work (with some help). Here is a shot of him hard at work. The bombers departed Dunnellon for Tallahassee, FL for the first stop of two that were sponsored by Mr. Marty Steiner of Moultrie, GA. Marty has been an organizer for several years with the Collings Foundation and has shown his committment to the tour by sponsoring visits that are at times up to 1000 miles away from his home. His stops in Tallahassee, FL and Americus, GA were the choices this year and both were great! The visit to Americus was the first ever for us and it was especially nice to visit this airport which was where famed aviator Charles Lindbergh learned how to fly. Thanks also to South Georgia Tech for hosting us on their A&P Mechanic school ramp and the donation of parts! Off to Birmingham, AL next for a visit to Shelby County Airport for the weekend. Stop organizer Hank Stickley did a great job getting the word out and the visit saw great crowds despite the Easter weekend! Unfortunately at the end of the visit, the B-24 developed some engine problems and the decision was made to change the #1 engine at Birmingham. The B-17 flew on to Hot Springs, AR next without the B-24 along side. The B-24 crew worked hard and changed the engine in record time, missing only Hot Springs, AR and Ada, OK. The B-17 acting solo in both locations saw a great response from Hot Springs which we had not visited for several years and Ada which was the first visit ever to that city. Stop organizers George Downie in Hot Springs and Terry Lee in Ada did a wonderful job and we enjoyed the company of many folks excited to get a peek at the B-17 Flying Fortress. A weekend visit in Houston, TX saw the reunion of the barnstorming bombers for a stop sponsored and hosted by our Collings Foundation West group at Ellington Field. Led by volunteer organizer Don Daniels and staffed by nearly all of the volunteer "troops" at CF West, the Wings of Freedom Tour had one of the best visits ever to the area. On display with the bombers were other Collings Foundation aircraft such as the UH-1 Huey, T-33 Shooting Star, S2F Tracker, and McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom which had had its first flight of the year only days before! The Houston visit was a great success also because of the participation of the local community. Boy Scouts, Veterans Groups, Schools, and EAA Young Eagles participated all weekend long and it was great to see see the generations communicating with each other... the WWII generation sharing their stories with the young folks who will carry the torch into the future and keep their memories alive. On Monday morning we moved to Dallas, TX for the first ever visit to Dallas Love Field and the new Frontiers of Flight Museum. Organizer Gil Geddes and Dan Hamilton along with scores of museum volunteers accomplished a record breaking visit to the area and we look forward to visiting the area again in the future! Thanks also to the kind folks at the airport for housing the B-17 & B-24 in the former Braniff Airline hangars during an evening of threatening weather! On Wednesday afternoon we made a loooong flight to the War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, NM for a visit organized by director Terry Sunday. If you have never been to this museum, we highly recommend it as it is one of the most surprising collections of warbirds in the US. Not many museums can boast a P-38 Lightning, several P-51 Mustangs, a P-40 Warhawk, and an F4U Corsair in their collection as well as many other planes. It was also great seeing so many veterans from the local area coming out to visit as well... like this group of China-Burma-India theater veterans that came out. On to Tucson, AZ for the weekend as guests of local organizer and DFC member Roger Stubbs. Tucson is the home of Davis Monthan Air Force Base where many military aircraft live their final days before being scrapped, but this weekend was different as the duo of bombers that were saved from the scrappers torch soared above the city. We had a great weekend and saw many veterans and friends including former stop organizer Vince LaRussa who was one of the folks we listened to when we decided to repaint the B-24 as "Witchcraft". He flew in the same bomb group! The bombers also enjoyed a much needed wash down courtesy of the folks at the Tucson International Airport fire department! The bombers departed for Phoenix, AZ for a visit to Mesa, AZ at Falcon Field arranged by friend and stop organizer Robert Kropp. It had been 2 years since we had visited the airport and it was great seeing everyones response to the new paint scheme of the B-24. If you are ever at Falcon Field, make sure to dine at Anzio Landing restaurant... they have a huge mural of our B-24 on the wall there! Nearing the end of the Southwest tour we headed for Lake Havasu City, AZ for our first visit ever there! Hosted by Vicki Holt and D2Aero, we had a great time and a great crowd! The crew even felt a little like a bomber crew in 1944 as they stayed at a hotel overlooking the London Bridge that was moved to Lake Havasu in 1962 from London. Here is a shot of the B-17 taking off and the B-24 on the ramp at Lake Havasu. The final visit of the 2005 Southwest tour was to Las Vegas, NV at North Las Vegas Airport. Luck was on our side for the weekend and we had huge crowds and lots of flights over the city that never sleeps! Second year tour organizer Cindy Campbell worked really hard this year to get the local media to pick up the story and it worked great! Las Vegas has one of the fastest growing veteran populations in the US, so it was great seeing so many of our heroes join us at the visit! The B-17 & B-24 then moved to Palm Springs, CA to begin the West Coast tour. Stay tuned for more information as it is posted! Thanks for reading! 7@http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/ 2005 Southwest Tour Summary
The B-17 & B-24 officially entered the West Coast portion of the Wings of Freedom Tour on April 18th, marking the completion of the Southwest portion of the tour. The bombers visited Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Nevada this year and saw a tremendous response at all visits!

The first visit of the season was Dunnellon, FL for a weekend visit sponsored by the Yankee Air Force Florida Division. Both the B-17 & B-25 visited along with the newly repainted B-24 Liberator "Witchcraft" at her first public appearance ever!


The crowds were great at this airfield, which happens to be an original Army Air Force training field in Central Florida. Organizers Carolyn & Claude Mills did an outstanding job yet again and we look forward to returning again next year! Here is a shot of the B-24 departing for her first ride of the season.


Take a look at all those names on the side of the plane... they are the folks who have contributed over the years to keep the B-24 flying. It is no small task applying these names and we are thankful to Dr. Paul "Maddog" Vasconi for his patience and hard work (with some help). Here is a shot of him hard at work.


The bombers departed Dunnellon for Tallahassee, FL for the first stop of two that were sponsored by Mr. Marty Steiner of Moultrie, GA. Marty has been an organizer for several years with the Collings Foundation and has shown his committment to the tour by sponsoring visits that are at times up to 1000 miles away from his home. His stops in Tallahassee, FL and Americus, GA were the choices this year and both were great! The visit to Americus was the first ever for us and it was especially nice to visit this airport which was where famed aviator Charles Lindbergh learned how to fly. Thanks also to South Georgia Tech for hosting us on their A&P Mechanic school ramp and the donation of parts!

Off to Birmingham, AL next for a visit to Shelby County Airport for the weekend. Stop organizer Hank Stickley did a great job getting the word out and the visit saw great crowds despite the Easter weekend! Unfortunately at the end of the visit, the B-24 developed some engine problems and the decision was made to change the #1 engine at Birmingham. The B-17 flew on to Hot Springs, AR next without the B-24 along side.


The B-24 crew worked hard and changed the engine in record time, missing only Hot Springs, AR and Ada, OK. The B-17 acting solo in both locations saw a great response from Hot Springs which we had not visited for several years and Ada which was the first visit ever to that city. Stop organizers George Downie in Hot Springs and Terry Lee in Ada did a wonderful job and we enjoyed the company of many folks excited to get a peek at the B-17 Flying Fortress.

A weekend visit in Houston, TX saw the reunion of the barnstorming bombers for a stop sponsored and hosted by our Collings Foundation West group at Ellington Field. Led by volunteer organizer Don Daniels and staffed by nearly all of the volunteer "troops" at CF West, the Wings of Freedom Tour had one of the best visits ever to the area. On display with the bombers were other Collings Foundation aircraft such as the UH-1 Huey, T-33 Shooting Star, S2F Tracker, and McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom which had had its first flight of the year only days before!


The Houston visit was a great success also because of the participation of the local community. Boy Scouts, Veterans Groups, Schools, and EAA Young Eagles participated all weekend long and it was great to see see the generations communicating with each other... the WWII generation sharing their stories with the young folks who will carry the torch into the future and keep their memories alive.

On Monday morning we moved to Dallas, TX for the first ever visit to Dallas Love Field and the new Frontiers of Flight Museum. Organizer Gil Geddes and Dan Hamilton along with scores of museum volunteers accomplished a record breaking visit to the area and we look forward to visiting the area again in the future! Thanks also to the kind folks at the airport for housing the B-17 & B-24 in the former Braniff Airline hangars during an evening of threatening weather!

On Wednesday afternoon we made a loooong flight to the War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, NM for a visit organized by director Terry Sunday. If you have never been to this museum, we highly recommend it as it is one of the most surprising collections of warbirds in the US. Not many museums can boast a P-38 Lightning, several P-51 Mustangs, a P-40 Warhawk, and an F4U Corsair in their collection as well as many other planes. It was also great seeing so many veterans from the local area coming out to visit as well... like this group of China-Burma-India theater veterans that came out.


On to Tucson, AZ for the weekend as guests of local organizer and DFC member Roger Stubbs. Tucson is the home of Davis Monthan Air Force Base where many military aircraft live their final days before being scrapped, but this weekend was different as the duo of bombers that were saved from the scrappers torch soared above the city. We had a great weekend and saw many veterans and friends including former stop organizer Vince LaRussa who was one of the folks we listened to when we decided to repaint the B-24 as "Witchcraft". He flew in the same bomb group! The bombers also enjoyed a much needed wash down courtesy of the folks at the Tucson International Airport fire department!


The bombers departed for Phoenix, AZ for a visit to Mesa, AZ at Falcon Field arranged by friend and stop organizer Robert Kropp. It had been 2 years since we had visited the airport and it was great seeing everyones response to the new paint scheme of the B-24. If you are ever at Falcon Field, make sure to dine at Anzio Landing restaurant... they have a huge mural of our B-24 on the wall there!

Nearing the end of the Southwest tour we headed for Lake Havasu City, AZ for our first visit ever there! Hosted by Vicki Holt and D2Aero, we had a great time and a great crowd! The crew even felt a little like a bomber crew in 1944 as they stayed at a hotel overlooking the London Bridge that was moved to Lake Havasu in 1962 from London. Here is a shot of the B-17 taking off and the B-24 on the ramp at Lake Havasu.


The final visit of the 2005 Southwest tour was to Las Vegas, NV at North Las Vegas Airport. Luck was on our side for the weekend and we had huge crowds and lots of flights over the city that never sleeps! Second year tour organizer Cindy Campbell worked really hard this year to get the local media to pick up the story and it worked great! Las Vegas has one of the fastest growing veteran populations in the US, so it was great seeing so many of our heroes join us at the visit!

The B-17 & B-24 then moved to Palm Springs, CA to begin the West Coast tour. Stay tuned for more information as it is posted! Thanks for reading! ]]> default 2005-04-20T09:13:00-07:00 Onward and Upward to Sebring http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=6 http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=6#comm On Monday the bombers moved to Sebring, FL for a visit through Wednesday. The airport was originally Hendricks Field in WWII and was a USAAF training base for B-17 crews. For more information on the history of Sebring Airport, visit this link to their website. The B-25 set down first in Sebring on Monday and the B-17 followed an hour later after completing some rescheduled flights in Boca Raton from the poor weather over the weekend. Local organizer and assistant airport manager Peggy Whiteleather helped out quite a bit and has for many years now... thanks Peggy! Here are some shots of our F4U-5NL Corsair that followed the B-17 & B-25 in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. The F4U will also be seen at the Melbourne, FL location this coming weekend as the Florida Tour closes for 2005. All photos below are courtesy of Jim Harley. CF Chief Pilot, Rob Collings prepares for start-up in the Corsair. The Corsair flys along with the B-17 on its way to Boca Raton. 6@http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/ visit this link to their website. The B-25 set down first in Sebring on Monday and the B-17 followed an hour later after completing some rescheduled flights in Boca Raton from the poor weather over the weekend. Local organizer and assistant airport manager Peggy Whiteleather helped out quite a bit and has for many years now... thanks Peggy!

Here are some shots of our F4U-5NL Corsair that followed the B-17 & B-25 in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton. The F4U will also be seen at the Melbourne, FL location this coming weekend as the Florida Tour closes for 2005. All photos below are courtesy of Jim Harley.


CF Chief Pilot, Rob Collings prepares for start-up in the Corsair.



The Corsair flys along with the B-17 on its way to Boca Raton.

]]> default 2005-03-02T07:50:00-07:00 Weekend in Boca Raton & B-24 Repaint Progress http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=5 http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=5#comm The B-17 & B-25 had a great weekend despite the cloudy and rainy weather in Boca Raton. Our volunteer stop organizers Abe Wilen, Bruce Herman, and Irwin Stovroff worked hard for many weeks to get the word out and to prepare for the visit... even through some obstacles prevented us from arriving on an originally scheduled Thursday afternoon slot due to the ramp at Boca being full of corporate aircraft from a local economic conference. As always we had a terrific turn-out of veterans to tell their stories and had a great turn out of local school children today (Monday) before the aircraft departed late for Sebring, FL. Progress on the B-24 is coming right along and here are some shots from the work over the weekend... hot off the presses thanks to photographer Tom Royal! 5@http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/
Progress on the B-24 is coming right along and here are some shots from the work over the weekend... hot off the presses thanks to photographer Tom Royal!




]]> default 2005-02-28T14:13:00-07:00 A First Look: B-24 Turns Green! http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=4 http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=4#comm On February 24th, 2005, the Collings Foundation's B-24 Liberator emerged from the paint shop at TIMCO in Lake City, FL looking much different than she did a few weeks ago. After 2 weeks of stripping, prepping, and painting she was rolled out just after noon on the 24th with her base coat of olive drab green, gray underside, and red trim. With just the basic paint applied, the B-24 departed in the afternoon for New Smyrna Beach, FL where the crew at American Aero Services will apply the nose art, markings, and the donor names that have been a part of the B-24 since restoration. Here are some pictures:: Photos above by TIMCO and Jim Harley. 4@http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/






Photos above by TIMCO and Jim Harley.

]]> default 2005-02-24T09:46:00-07:00 Tamiami & Fort Lauderdale http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=3 http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=3#comm If you are ever in the Miami area, make sure to check out Wings Over Miami Air Museum at Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport... the Wings of Freedom Tour did on Feb 16 through 18! Organized by Collings Foundation Plane Sponsor and Wings Over Miami director, Walt Orth and new museum Director Denny Moore, the visit was one of the most successful that we have ever had at the airport. The gang from Wings Over Miami also provided a little company on the flight up from Marathon as they dispatched some "little friends" consisting of an AT-6 Texan, T-28 Trojan, and a Nanchang CJ-6 to fly with the B-17 & B-25 into the airport! T-28, B-25, CJ-6, and AT-6 in flight. Photo by Jim Harley. B-25 "Tondelayo" over the Florida Keys. Photo by Jim Harley. On Feb 18th we moved the Wings of Freedom Tour to Banyan Air Service at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and began our annual weekend visit to the area as hosted by organizer and veteran Howard Collins. Howard has been an organizer for 14 years with the Collings Foundation and each year it seems to get better and better! Joining the B-17 & B-25 was our newly restored Chance-Vought F4U-5NL Corsair and everyone loved the assortment! Veterans gathered on Sunday afternoon for the annual Gathering of Eagles event where veterans get together and discuss and speak with the crowd about their experiences in combat in WWII. It is always a wonderful event and truly ties the aircraft in with "our boys" and what they did to preserve the precious freedom that we enjoy. All weekend we had great crowds and the planes were flying quite a bit too! Thanks to everyone that made Fort Lauderdale a great success again! Next stop: West Palm Beach, FL 3@http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/ Wings Over Miami Air Museum at Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport... the Wings of Freedom Tour did on Feb 16 through 18! Organized by Collings Foundation Plane Sponsor and Wings Over Miami director, Walt Orth and new museum Director Denny Moore, the visit was one of the most successful that we have ever had at the airport. The gang from Wings Over Miami also provided a little company on the flight up from Marathon as they dispatched some "little friends" consisting of an AT-6 Texan, T-28 Trojan, and a Nanchang CJ-6 to fly with the B-17 & B-25 into the airport!


T-28, B-25, CJ-6, and AT-6 in flight. Photo by Jim Harley.



B-25 "Tondelayo" over the Florida Keys. Photo by Jim Harley.



On Feb 18th we moved the Wings of Freedom Tour to Banyan Air Service at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport and began our annual weekend visit to the area as hosted by organizer and veteran Howard Collins. Howard has been an organizer for 14 years with the Collings Foundation and each year it seems to get better and better! Joining the B-17 & B-25 was our newly restored Chance-Vought F4U-5NL Corsair and everyone loved the assortment! Veterans gathered on Sunday afternoon for the annual Gathering of Eagles event where veterans get together and discuss and speak with the crowd about their experiences in combat in WWII. It is always a wonderful event and truly ties the aircraft in with "our boys" and what they did to preserve the precious freedom that we enjoy. All weekend we had great crowds and the planes were flying quite a bit too! Thanks to everyone that made Fort Lauderdale a great success again! Next stop: West Palm Beach, FL ]]> default 2005-02-23T16:01:00-07:00 Marathon, FL to Tamiami, FL http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=2 http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=2#comm The B-17 & B-25 left Marathon, FL in the Florida Keys today on their way to the Wings Over Miami Air Museum in Miami, FL at Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport. The visit to Marathon was the first visit in several years and the first time the B-25 has travelled to the area. Local Volunteer Coordinator Betty Vail did a great job of getting the word out and we enjoyed a great many visitors and flight participants. For those of you who have been following the Wings of Freedom Tour for many years, you may know of former full-time volunteers Bill and Dee Strawn... well, they came down and helped out for a few days and commemorated their first meeting in Marathon so many years ago when Bill flew in with the tour in the early 90's. Thanks Marathon for a great visit! B-17 departing Marathon Key. Photo by Jim Harley 2@http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/


B-17 departing Marathon Key. Photo by Jim Harley

]]> default 2005-02-16T12:10:00-07:00 B-24 Liberator Repaint Process http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=1 http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=1#comm The B-24 Liberator is nearing the completion of the first step in the repainting of the aircraft to the scheme of "Witchcraft" at TIMCO Aviation Services in Lake City, FL. Pilots Rob Collings and Caroline Lindgren joined by flight engineer Steve Swift brought the aircraft to Lake City on January 30th for the last time as "Dragon and His Tail" and immediately the aircraft was brought into a hangar to begin the preparation for repaint. Over the next week, the aircraft started its chemical stripping process to remove the old paint. Note that the B-24 was not a bare aluminum aircraft but rather had a silver paint applied to protect it originally. This will be the first time the aircraft will have been stripped completely since the original restoration! Below is a picture of the aircraft with its first coat of stripping agent in the TIMCO hangar. Next comes paint at TIMCO and then the plane will be flown to American Aero Services in New Smyrna Beach, FL for the application of details, markings, and nose art! 1@http://www.collingsfoundation.org/weblog/


Over the next week, the aircraft started its chemical stripping process to remove the old paint. Note that the B-24 was not a bare aluminum aircraft but rather had a silver paint applied to protect it originally. This will be the first time the aircraft will have been stripped completely since the original restoration! Below is a picture of the aircraft with its first coat of stripping agent in the TIMCO hangar.


Next comes paint at TIMCO and then the plane will be flown to American Aero Services in New Smyrna Beach, FL for the application of details, markings, and nose art! ]]> default 2005-02-12T11:55:00-07:00