I'm the daughter of a pair of defense workers of World War II -- more specifically, two Texans who spent the war years in California, as welders in the Kaiser Permanente Shipyards. Dad, who had three brothers in the service, had a burst eardrum as a child and was ineligible, physically, for the armed forces. Mom's family sent four boys into combat in WWII. Soldiers and sailors, they were; not Marines, and not pilots. No aircraft mechanics, either. But I'm the one who's obsessed with flying.
So this coming weekend I'm heading somewhere not-so-far-away as I went a few weeks ago, when I visited Space Center Houston and had one of the greatest days ever.
I'm going down to Midland International Airport to see Airsho 2011. This year the Red, White and Loud tour will occupy the Saturday night festivities:
but me ... I'm going for the flying. The only operational B-29 in the world will be flying there.
Hop over the screaming-orange Runway Marker with me for more:
The Commemorative Air Force goes back a few years -- it started life as the Confederate Air Force, and to those of us who first encountered the "Ghost Squadron" under that title (as I did, working on the B-17 being restored at Barksdale Air Force Base in the '70s), the CAF, now known as the Commemorative Air Force and rehomed from Harlingen to Midland, will always be where the warbirds are. Wikipedia says this about the birth of the CAF:
History
The origin of the Commemorative Air Force dates back to 1957, when Lloyd Nolen and four friends purchased a P-51 Mustang, each sharing in the $1,500 cost of the aircraft.[2] With the purchase of the Mustang, known as Red Nose, the group was unofficially founded.
In 1958, the group made their second purchase of two Grumman F8F Bearcats for $805 each. Along with the P-51, this gave the pilots the two most advanced piston-engine fighters to see service with the U.S. Army Air Forces and the United States Navy.
In 1960, the CAF began seriously to search for other World War II aircraft. The CAF Colonels were shocked to find that the aircraft which played such a major role in winning World War II were being rapidly and systematically scrapped as obsolete. No one, not even the Air Force or Navy, was attempting to preserve one of each type of these historic aircraft for display for future generations. The warbirds that remained airworthy were mostly in private hands modified for air racing or had been converted for commercial use as air freighters and aerial firefighters.
On September 6, 1961, the CAF was chartered as a nonprofit Texas corporation to restore and preserve World War II-era combat aircraft. By the end of the year, there were nine aircraft in the CAF fleet. Their first airshow was held on March 10, 1963.
In 1965, the first museum building was completed at old Rebel Field, Mercedes, Texas. The CAF created a new Rebel Field at Harlingen, Texas, when they moved there in 1968, occupying three large buildings including 26,000 square feet (2,400 m2) of museum space. The CAF fleet continued to grow. By the end of the decade, the CAF fleet included medium and heavy bombers such as the B-25, B-17, B-24. In 1971, they added the world's only airworthy B-29 Superfortress, Fifi.
The group's accomplishments were recognized in 1989 when it became a National Aviation Hall of Fame Spirit of Flight Award winner.[3] The year 1991 marked the beginning of a new era for the CAF with the opening of the new Midland, Texas, headquarters and museum facilities. Since its move to Midland, the group also established the American Airpower Heritage Museum and the American Combat Airman Hall of Fame.[4]
^ Commemorative Air Force website: American Airpower Heritage Museum Accessed January 24, 2009.
^ CAF History Accessed April 3, 2011.
^ Nationalaviation.org.
^ See American Combat Airman Hall of Fame webpage (on CAF Airpower Museum website). Retrieved 2010-07-25. See also American Combat Airman Hall of Fame inductees webpage (on American Airpower Heritage Museum website). Retrieved 2010-07-28.
What I expect to see there will be somewhat dependent on the show's air boss, but the B-1B, the B-2 Stealth Bomber, the A-10 demonstration team, and VIPER East are on the schedule. More to the point, there WILL be vintage aircraft in the air, starting with the world's only flyable B-29, FIFI.
She's going to be part of Aaron Tippin's concert at the end of Saturday's flying events, too.
This is gonna be fun ...