DuPage ride in a B-17 bomber offers a glimpse into World War II
I love watching the movie "Good Will Hunting" because it's intriguing to see Will struggle between living an ordinary, calculated life or a life full of risks. He must decide whether he wants to go out and actually experience the world.
There's a moment in the film when Sean Maguire, Will's psychologist, tells him he hasn't really lived. Sean says you can't know Michelangelo until you've smelled the Sistine Chapel. You don't know war until you've been in one.
That's exactly how I felt when I flew recently in a World War II B-17 Flying Fortress.
I knew the basics about the war. I knew when it started and what countries got involved and when. I knew the battles and about how many men died for Uncle Sam.
I'd even read other Daily Herald reporter's accounts of the sounds and the emotions you experience on such a flight. It's what made me want to take the ride in the first place.
But there's no way to explain the plane's deafening engine noise, making you feel as if you're stuck in a hair dryer turned onto its highest speed. There is no way to explain how vulnerable you feel standing in the flight engineer position in the aircraft, with the back of your neck open to enemy fire. There is no way to explain how heroic these men must've been to stand with a ticking bomb meters below their feet.
And that's why preserving this piece of history is so important.
The bomber flies as part of the Collings Foundation's Wings of Freedom Tour, which travels the nation offering rides for the adventuresome who want to come as close as they can to living a bit of America's past. The tour stops today at DuPage Airport.
Preserving history is important for people like Greg Hynd, of Wheaton, who came out to see what it was like for his family to have flown in the war. He never got the chance to ask his family personally and realized this flight was his second-best option.
"It's not every day that you get to fly in something older than you," he said.
Pilot Mac McCauley agreed, saying he loves talking with the veterans and hearing their stories about how they'd run throughout the plane back in the day. He loves seeing multiple generations come so the older ones can share this unique piece of their past with the younger ones.
But keeping the plane in tiptop shape isn't easy. Every day the crew is out there, replacing a tire or checking the motors to make sure the craft is ready to take another group of adventurists on a journey that can't be experienced by watching the History Channel.
"She's in really good shape," McCauley said. "When we're not flying it, we're working on it."
I hope they continue to work on this plane for many years to come, allowing this piece of history to be shown to future generations. Because just like Will, I want others to actually experience this part of the war.
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>What:</b> Wings of Freedom Tour, displaying and offering rides in a World War II aircraft</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>When:</b> 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Where:</b> DuPage Airport, 2700 International Drive, West Chicago </p>
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Cost:</b> Close-up viewing is $12 for adults, $6 for ages 12 and younger; 30-minute flights on B-17 or B-24 are $425; P-51 flights are $2,200 for 30 minutes, $3,200 for 60 minutes</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Info:</b> (800) 568-8924 or <a href="http://collingsfoundation.org" target="new">collingsfoundation.org</a></p>