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I volunteer every Saturday at Planes of Fame and the first Saturday of every month they have a "Living History" event. For these events they chose a historical event to discuss and whenever possible a museum aircraft type that was used during that time frame. There is almost always a person/s who is/are able to speak about topic first hand too.

I wish I could remember the names of the speakers at yesterdays "Bombers of the 8th Army Air Force" event since I do remember them being very informative but what happened after the speaking event has completely taken over my memories of yesterday, August 04, 2012.

Something they do every month after the event for the museum members is raffle off a flight in a museum aircraft. (You don't have to be a volunteer to be eligible for the raffle, just a member of the museum.) Normally there is only one winner picked for the flight but yesterday since they were flying the B-25 there were going to be three lucky individuals who were going to go flying.

Even though the volunteers at the museum are eligible for the flight just like all the other members it is pretty rare for them to win. Having said that the first ticket winner for the flight was one of our volunteers who flew as a ball turret gunner with the 8th Air Force in B-17s and he flew 30 missions in just 79 days. He was severely wounded on his 30th mission and because of those wounds flew no more missions during the war. (He was also one of the guest speakers and spoke of his experiences at the event.) I was so happy that Wilbur was going flying again that I didn’t think about the fact that there were going to be two others who were going to be going flying with him. I also “knew” that there was no way that two volunteers would win the flight on the same day. Luckily I was wrong about another volunteer winning since I was the second person to win.

So not only did I get to fly in a B-25 yesterday but I got to fly with an 8th Air Force Veteran in WWII era aircraft. Yesterday is definitely one of those lifetime memories that I will never forget.

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Here's a video of Wilbur talking about some of his experiences during WWII.
B-17 Belly Turret Gunner Wilbur Richardson Interview at Planes of Fame
Standard Definition: youtu.be/R8Ez65pXl38

High Definition (720): youtu.be/R8Ez65pXl38?hd=1


Wheels

Cool, congratulations for getting that ride!

WOW...great going Wheels!!!! It'll take a month to quit smiling..lol

Is This Where i Get My missing in Action Free Beer??

This is probably where YOU have to buy Mo... (snickering)...

Uhm, I can see the line forming behind me as we speak...

Figures..Everytime i walk into a place...They Scan My credit card At The door......lol

Speakin' of...You'll need to use your NEW Gold card as prices uhm...well, may have increased some since your last visit... (smirking).

Ahhh..Here it comes..All You Bars Have The Same Lines..Yall Need a Recording Tape Activated When entering Yals Place..Prices have have increased since last time you were here but so has service..LMAO

thanks Wheels, I talked to the T/Sgt top turrent gunner that flew 35 missions with my uncle from thorpe abbots in wwii.. we both cried... I never grow tired of hearing their stories...

-S-

Lucky guy..!! During WW2, my aunt won a ride in a Lancaster here in Toronto Canada that was put on a mount down by Lake Ontario after the war. The Lank is now in the Toronto Aeorspace museum being restored. I worked on cleaning the engines when I was a member. My mother said it was exciting and she talked about it for some time.

Hammer