World War II Aircraft Visit Embry-Riddle Ramp

by Marissa Lentowski and Andrew Polgreen

On April 12 and 13 visitors to Embry-Riddle's flightline got a special treat. Sitting behind all of the Cessnas and Seminoles were two old war birds. The flightline had been invaded by a B17 "Flying Fortress" and a B24 "Liberator." They were here as part of a 10 month national tour intended to help preserve the aircraft and to present them to people all over.

The B17 was built at the end of World War II, but it never saw any combat. It flew several times within the US, but when the war ended it was put into storage until it was taken out by its current owners years later. The B24, on the other hand, was built near the beginning of the war in August of 1944. It started as a lend-lease airplane and was given to Britain with the idea that they would pay the US back when they were able to. After the war the British gave the airplane to India, which integrated it into their Air Force. It was flown by India until 1968 at which point is was dissembled and it sat in a yard until 1984. This is when Robert Collings bought the aircraft and paid to have it reassembled. Its restoration was finished in 1989 and it took to the skies again to begin touring.

These planes belonged to the Collings Foundation, which pays for the maintenance and flight costs of the aircraft. The foundation also pays for the volunteer's rooms and meals while they are showcasing the aircraft. All the pilots and crewmembers are volunteers and receive no compensation for their work. Jim Minor, one of the B17 pilots, said, "This is a highly sought after position. Many of us are retired and so this is like a hobby, so while we do not get paid, the chance to fly these airplanes makes it completely worth it." Minor is a retired pilot from Continental and has been flying the B17 for 12 years.

After their 10-month tour, the airplanes head south for 2 months of very heavy maintenance. This is the only chance the aircraft have for repairs and for replacement parts to be put in. Many of the parts for the aircraft still exist from when they were used in combat, either as scrap from old planes, or parts that were specifically made as spares. Unfortunately, many of the parts also have to be made from scratch at great expense to the Collings Foundation. These parts are taken to the planes' hangars in Florida.

It costs roughly $3000 to $4000 an hour to fly these planes. To offset these costs, many different techniques are used by the foundation. One of the major sources of income is the $8 charge for people to go into both of the planes. One could also pay $400 for a 30-minute flight. Though expensive, many vintage aircraft enthusiasts are willing to pay for a ride. Minor said, "We're our own show, we have all our own promotional materials, booths, plus cones and rope to section off the aircraft."

Prescott did not turn out to be one of the stops for them though. Part of this is due to the fact that anyone with an Embry-Riddle ID card was allowed in for free. Although the bigger issue for the pilots seemed to be the amount of people not the amount of money. At most stops they encounter a veritable beehive of people, but at Prescott the number of people that came was relatively low. As one of the volunteers remarked, "these aircraft are here for the people and if no one shows, then we feel as if the stop was a loss." Poor advertising in the Prescott area seemed to be to blame for the low attendance. Also, the fact that the aircraft were on the Embry-Riddle side of the airport instead of the public side may have had an effect on the number of people that came.

The crew began packing their supplies up for the flight to the next stop at around 1:30 PM and
took off from Prescott at 2:00 PM. Their next stop is Las Vegas where they hope to gather huge crowds to see the vintage planes.

From: http://horizons.eraunews.com/vnews
/display.v/ART/2004/04/24/40897a33206e2