Young and old excited by World War II planes in Wheeling
The meeting of reminiscent World War II veterans, middle-aged aviation enthusiasts and awestruck kids at Wheeling's Chicago Executive Airport Friday proved the Wings of Freedom Tour's mission to give the past a future was fulfilled.
Four vintage military aircraft - a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, the world's last flying Consolidated B-24 Liberator, a B-25 Mitchell and a North American P-51 Mustang - were the draw for the afternoon crowds
Paul Barnett of Brookhaven, Mississippi - one of the volunteer pilots for the Massachusetts-based Collings Foundation that organizes the 29-year-old tour - brought his own North American AT-6 built in 1949 to serve in Korea.
Though his plane and the slightly older ones that are the stars of the tour are at or over 70 years old, Barnett said that with the right dedication to their expensive upkeep, the planes can dazzle and teach even more generations to come.
"With the technology we have today, there won't be a part we can't get," he said.
And he expects that future generations of pilots, though originally trained on modern planes, will find their own reasons to learn to fly the World War II-era craft.
For him, it was the fact that his father who died five years ago had been a naval aviator in World War II.
"I wanted to be like him," Barnett said. "I wanted to feel and taste and smell what he experienced."
And as young boys and girls excitedly climbed into the cramped cockpit of the AT-6, he told them all piloting it for real was within their grasp.
Richard Tootelian of Lincolnshire, who had been a stateside bombardier on a B-24 during World War II, approached the last flying example of the once common aircraft with reverence.
"It brings back memories," he said.
Having already toured the B-24 during one of its previous visits to Wheeling, Steve Risley of Libertyville came to the airport Friday just to photograph it in flight and see it land.
"My dad was a co-pilot of a B-24," he said.
His father, Aud, flew missions out of England during World War II and died about a decade ago. He once turned down his son's offer to pay his way for a flight on this last operational B-24.
"He said, 'Every time I went up, someone was shooting at me,'" Risley laughed.
Dave Foss, a Vietnam War veteran and aircraft enthusiast from Arlington Heights, and his 8-year-old nephew, Julian Pendleton, found their own individual reasons to be impressed with the B-17.
"It's fantastic!" Foss said. "It looks just like they did when they originally built them. They've done a fantastic job."
Pendleton said he was probably like most kids in finding the guns and bombing equipment on the old planes the most fascinating.
The planes will remain on display at the airport from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for children under 12.
According to posted information on the tour, these prices and other donations help support the approximately $4,000 per flight hour it costs to keep each plane operational.