Introduction

The WWII era was like nothing that has happened before or since. As horrible as it was, one side effect was a burst of technological advancements and that is clearly demonstrated in the area of aircraft. In less than a decade, aviation advanced from the last of the biplanes to the first jets.

Aviation fans are usually fascinated by the many "warbirds" of this era, and we're fortunate to have many groups and individuals who restore and even fly many of these warbirds. One of the premier restoration groups is the Collings Foundation. Founded in 1979, they have grown over the years to preserve and exhibit a vaste collection of aircraft, as well as other military vehicles and classic cars.

I'm fortunate to have the Collings Foundation headquarters almost in my back yard and have even reported on some of the events held there, such as the Race Of The Century, an annual event that pits horses, cars and airplanes against each other in a variety of races.

Wings Of Freedom Tour

Unless you live near their base in Stow, Massachusetts (created as FS2004 scenery by John B. Loney, Jr.) you are most likely to have heard of the Collings Foundation due to their "Wings Of Freedom Tour". If you live in the U.S. you are likely to be close to one of their tour stops where they usually bring their B-17G Flying Fortress "Nine O Nine", their B-24J Liberator "Witchcraft", their B-25 Mitchell "Tondelayo" and their TF-51D Mustang "Toulouse Nuts". The touring aircraft may vary somewhat due to maintenance and other issues, but the bombers make up the core group.

So, what's great about the tour is that not only do you get to see these historic aircraft up close, both inside and out should you choose, but there is actually the opportunity to fly in them. And that's what this story is about.

On The Road To KPYM

I've seen many of the Collings planes over the years, and should mention that there are many other planes that I've not specifically mentioned, including groups of Korean War and Vietnam War era planes, including the only F-4 Phantom you're going to see touring these days. Naturally, being a long time aviation fan I've wanted to ride in one (or all!) of them and finally an opportunity became available.

All I had to do was get myself down to Plymouth Municipal Airport (KPYM, with scenery once again provided for FS2004 and FSX and John B. Loney Jr.). It's about a 90 minute drive, though coming back would mean hitting rush our on I495. Or it's a 90 minute flight, including the drive to the airport and pre-flight inspection. Well, that's an easy one--fly down.

I was scheduled to fly at 4:30 and wanted to get there early to inspect the planes on the ground. Lift-off from 6B6 was at around 2:40 and I arrive at KPYM at around 3:20. As I was taxiing in I heard a "North American" announce his landing intentions over the radio and before I was fully tied down, in comes the B-25 "Tondelayo" who taxied in and joined the three other warbirds already on the ramp.

My ride parked on the ramp near the warbirds

Wings Of Freedom Visits KPYM

I went to check in and got chatting with another fellow who was there to fly in the B-24. He described this as a "heritage flight", in memory of a WWII veteran relative who had been a flight engineer on B-24's in Europe. He had even brought along some of his relative's war-time records, including list of flights he had been on showing he'd been in both the B-24 and B-17 as well as other planes.

Although there are very few actual WWII veterans around these days, it's obvious that these flights and just seeing these planes means a lot to many people who have a personal connection to them, like this man did. He was not the only person I heard mention "heritage flight" as a reason for being there.

Boeing B-17G "Nine O Nine"

With time to spare before my flight I set off to tour the ramp. I've seen both the B-17 and B-24 before, and remember being inside at least one of them though that was many years ago.

The B-17 is one of the best known planes of WWII, thanks to the era's promotion of the "Memphis Belle" and from movies like "Twelve O'Clock High". This frequent exposure has made it an iconic symbol to many members of the public.

The Collings example of the B-17 was actually built by Douglas and just missed being in combat, but still had an interesting life before being restored. You can read the full story on the Collings web site.

I walked all around the outside and finally went up ladder and walked through the inside. It's tight in there! Especially so, squeezing down the narrow path through the bomb bay.

Being an amateur radio operator in addition to an aviation enthusist, I made point of spending a few minutes in the radio operator's position which seems like a less than ergonomic place to operate from. I actually own some of the radios found here, including the BC-348, a communications receiver that was mass produced during WWII and was used in many planes and at ground stations. Mine has been converted to run on AC, but in the aircraft they ran on 28v DC and used a dynamotor (a quite noisy motor generator) to create the high voltage required by the tubes. A dynamotor is a loud thing though probably went unnoticed in the interior of a big bomber.

As you can see from my photos, most of the interior is accessible. You can't quite sit in the pilot's seat but you can certainly see the cockpit well which for practical reasons is not fully authentic to the 1940's; but I imagine that color screen GPS is welcome for modern day travel.

Consolidated B-24J Liberator "Witchcraft"

The B-24 during WWII had similar capabilities and importance to the B-17 yet is not as well known and for whatever reason they have not been as well preserved. From what I undersstand, the Collings plane is the only true B-24 currently in operation.

This plane is a real combat veteran, flying for the RAF in the Pacific theater from late 1944. After the war, it ended up in India and was restored and flew for the Indian Air Force until 1968. It eventually made its way to England and from there was bought by Collings and brought to the U.S. for full restoration. In 1989 the plane flew again, after a five year restoration and 97,000 man hours of labor. It's been on tour pretty much ever since, flying in three different liveries over the years. For the full story, visit the Collings web site.

As with the B-17, it was possible to walk all around the outside and then climb inside and walk the plane from end to end. It's pretty tight in there too, with that same narrow walkway through the bomb bay. At one point I was looking down at the ball turrent with several other people, just trying to imagine what it must have been like to be squeezed in there.

North American TF-51D Mustang

"Toulouse Nuts" is described as the newest addition to the Foundation's historic fighter aircraft. It's a two seater (trainer aircraft, versus the more common single seat P-51) which means a single passenger can ride in it, and while I was there someone did so we all got to see it fly.

I think most aviation fans enjoy the sound of that famous Merlin engine so it was a pleasure to at least briefly see this plane in action.

North American B-25J Mitchell "Tondelayo"

The reason for being in Plymouth, though, was to go flying and ultimately it was the B-25 Mitchell that I would be flying in. Though much smaller than the B-24 and B-17, this twin-engine medium bomber was quite capable and successful in its own right. The B-25 is of course famous for the Doolittle Raid on Japan, where these planes managed to take off from an aircraft carrier--something they were never meant to do.

This B-25 started its military career as a trainer in 1944. It never did see actual combat but was in military use until the late 1950's. Shortly after being declared surplus the plane was purchased, registered as a civil aircraft, and turned into a fire-fighting tanker. In this roll, the plane served as a "bomber", dousing fires from its 1000 gallon borate tank.

The Collings Foundation acquired the plane in 1985. In 1987 the plane had an "incident" at Minute Man Air Field, where I stared my flight today, and was rebuilt. Since 2002, the plane has been flying as "Tondelayo".

Unlike the B-24 and B-17, the Mitchell is not available for walk throughs--simply because it's just not possible. This is a considerably smaller plane and the interior is broken up into several parts. The forward part holds the two pilots, the engineer and the gunner. In the rear, there is room for several people to serve as side and tail gunners. The bomb bay is in the middle, separating the other parts of the plane.

For my flight, we had the two pilots and five eager passengers. Meeting up at the plane we were given a briefing on what we could and could not do ("don't touch anything painted red!"). I was assigned to the front along with one other passenger. Upon climbing the ladder up into the plane I found a pair of jump seats behind and a bit lower than the cockpit seats. For takeoff and landing we had to be buckled into these seats but during the flight we could move around.

The pilots went through their checklists and got the engines going. As we had been promised, those 1700 hp Wright R-2600-92 Cyclone engines were LOUD--not least because our jump seats were right next to them. With considerable rattle and popping we were soon on our way.

The wind had reversed since I had landed over an hour before so we headed for runway 24 and were soon airborne. Although we were looking up at them, our view of the cockpit was pretty good so we could watch the pilots fly the plane. I'd guess we were off the ground in less than half the runway and were soon climbing out into the setting sun...by this time it was only about an hour to sunset.

For these flights, we don't go fast or high. Fast burns lots of fuel and being low gives a better view. During our briefing we were told that it takes about 140 gallons of fuel to get airborne, but then only about 120 gallons an hour to cruise. That's still a lot of fuel but by being conservative on how the plane is flown the pilots help keep down the expenses.

Once level, the seatbelts came off and we could explore. Being in the front, the highlight is heading into the nose of the plane, but this is no simple feat! To get there requires crawling on hands and knees down a very narrow tunnel that goes under the cockpit. I barely fit, and things like the camera on my belt kept catching on things. Being young, small and limber would certainly be an advantage here!

But it's all worth it. I've often thought about how great the view must be in an open nose like this, and I was not disappointed. Still, I couldn't get over quite how exposed the WWII airmen must have felt inside that clear bubble...not much protection here! Plymouth is a great place to start a flight from as it's only a few miles from the ocean and some real scenic areas. Most of the flight was conducted at 180 mph and 1400 feet, so the view was great.

After a time I swappped places with my fellow front seat passenger and let him have the nose. This allowed me to stand right behind the pilots and have a clear view of the cockpit and everything they were doing, not to mentioned now that I was higher than in the jump seat a great view out of those large windows.

All too soon I realized our 30 minute flight was coming to an end as, this being an airport I'm pretty familiar with, I realized we were turning back towards the runway. We got a pretty good bump as the plane touched down again on runway 24 and a bit of a jolt braking as we used nearly all the runway to stop; did those brakes stick just a bit there?

Home Again

What a great experience but now time to head home again. I had not meant to be out quite so late and hadn't really prepared to tie down my plane in the dark so I hustled a bit to get going home. I was wheels up almost right at official sunset and about 25 minutes later was on the ground at 6B6, with just barely enough light left to tie down the plane.

Most anyone in the U.S. can have this same experience, in any of these bombers or sometimes in some of the other planes the Collings Foundation owns. Just watch for when the Wings Of Freedom tour visits your area and come by to see these great planes. Taking a ground tour or taking a flight helps pay to keep these historic planes flying.