Photo courtesy the Collings Foundation
A B-17 Flying Fortress, a B-24 Liberator or a P-51 Mustang will be at the Arcata-Eureka Airport in McKinleyville on Wednesday, June 6, Thursday, June 7 and Friday, June 8.
Dan Freitas of the North Coast Vintage Aviation Society has arranged a visit by the “Wings of Freedom Tour,” three WWII aircraft owned by the Collings Foundation.
They will be arriving Wednesday at about 2 p.m. and will stay until noon on Friday. They’ll be available for viewing from arrival until 5 p.m. Wednesday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and from 9 a.m. to noon Friday. Tours through the planes will be available for a donation of $12 for adults and $6 for children, or $2 for children on school tours and $12 for teachers. Flights will also be available; call Dan Freitas at 443-8138 for more information. There is no charge to view the airplanes on the ground.
The foundation’s 1944 vintage Consolidated B-24J Liberator is painted as “Witchcraft,” an 8th Air Force bomber that flew a record 130 missions over Europe as part of the 467th Bombardment Group. The Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress flies as “Nine-0-Nine,” an 8th Air Force, 91st Bombardment Group heavy bomber. 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 the P-51C Mustang escort fighter “Betty Jane.” 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.
For more information and the Wings of Freedom tour schedule, visit http://www.collingsfoundation.org.
