The above short (only 30 seconds long) video gives you an idea of what’s in store for those lucky enough visitors to our long-time business member’s War Eagles Air Museum (WEAM) this coming April. For only two days, from the 4th through the 6th of that month, the acclaimed Collings Wings of Freedom collection of WWII Warbirds will be giving rides and conducting walk-through tours of the historic aircraft from their famous flying collection.  Below is their advertisement for this upcoming nearby event.Below, you will see a short (4:11) video by the Collings Foundation about the “Last Liberator” (B-24 Bomber of WWII).  This heavy WWII bomber is the only one still flying, which is remarkable considering the fact that more of these bombers (over 18,000) were produced by the United States than any other military aircraft in our nation’s history.  And, almost half of these Liberator’s were produced under contract to Consolidated Aircraft Corporation, the warship’s designer, by the Ford Motor Company.  The mother aircraft corporation later became known as CONVAIR (From Consolidated Vultee Aircraft), and was headquartered in San Diego, CA.  It became famous for its manufacture of some of the most famous seaplanes of all time, and later entered both the jet airliner field and our NASA Space program, producing the famed Atlas rockets.

By visiting this post’s links to the Collings Foundation’s website, you will be able to actually see short videos of what a ride is like in each of their touring WWII Warbirds.

The “Wings of Freedom Tour” has two goals: to honor the sacrifices made by our veterans that allow us to enjoy our present freedom; and to help educate the visitors, especially younger Americans, about our national history and heritage. All comparable goals to those of the First Aero Squadron Foundation’s own mission.  The Collings Foundation encourages people to tour the planes, talk to the veterans who come to visit the aircraft, and participate in a “flight experience”. Celebrating 26 years, the tour has made more than 3,000 visits to airports across the contiguous United States and to Alaska. While the exact number of visitors is difficult to gauge, it is estimated that over 3.5 million people see these fully restored historic aircraft annually.