CAF Airpower History Tour
By Larry E. Nazimek We have all been to airshows consisting of static displays with no flying demonstrations, those consisting of flying demos with no static displays, and those consisting of both. The Commemorative Air Force’s AirPower History Tour, however, is of a different type.For this Tour, attendees may purchase tickets to ride in these historic aircraft of the Second World War. After the flights, attendees get to walk around the aircraft and even get a “tour” of their interiors. The show is a “tour,” because it travels to various cities.I attended their event at the Greater Kankankee Airport (IKK), 60 miles south of Chicago. For this stopover, the CAF brought a PT-13 Stearman, T-6 Texan, C-45 Expeditor, B-25 Mitchell, and B-29 Superfortress.
The price of the tickets are not cheap, but it’s not because the operators are making money, since they are all highly dedicated volunteers, whose passion is to share the experience of flying these historic aircraft. Aircraft are expensive to maintain and operate, but this is especially true for these historic aircraft, where “preserve” must be added to “maintain and operate.”Until just recently, “Fifi” was the only B-29 still flying. I first saw it fly 40 years ago, when the CAF had an annual airshow at their headquarters at the Harlingen (HRL), TX, airport, in which CAF aircraft from all over the U. S. would participate in a reenactmant of the Second World War. At the time, the pilot was Paul Tibbetts, the pilot of the “Enola Gay” that had dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. He continued to fly it for the CAF until hearing problems grounded him. His son and grandson, however, have continued flying this historic aircraft.
For this stopover at IKK, the pilot was Al Benzing, an airline pilot who had been flying Fifi for some 3 years. The copilot was Jeff Skiles of “Miracle on the Hudson” fame.The CAF consists of some 76 units in various locations, with each one operating one or more planes. Fifi is part of the B-29/B-24 squadron at Ft. Worth’s Meacham Field (FTW), although, as Glenn Mount explained, a person can belong to as many CAF squadrons as he wishes, as long as he pays his dues to each, in addition to the dues to the CAF HQ. He belongs to the Central California Valley Squadron in Modesto, CA, but he also belongs to the B-29/B-24 Squadron. This squadron has members from all over the U. S., who share their love of keeping these historic aircraft flying and bringing the experience to the public. One need not be a pilot to join the CAF, as it consists of people from all walks of life, veterans and civilians alike.The CAF headquarters is now located at the Dallas Executive Airport (DEA), also known as “Redbird.” The CAF’s museum is currently in crates, but they hope to eventually house the museum there.
All four engines of this B-29 were started, as one would expect, but for taxiing, the outboard engines were shut down. Benzing explained that it was because the engines are fairly close to the ground. “When we go into an airport, we check to see the width of the taxiways and where the taxiway lights are. Shutting the outboards down, however, makes taxiing a lot more difficult.” The B-29 has no nose gear steering, so turns are accomplished with differential braking and power on the outboard engines…if they are running.A B Taylor, a former Army navigator who flew MC-12s in Afghanistan, was also on the crew. “The navigation equipment is still there, but it is not functional…” since navigation is done by modern-day GPS. Among his crew duties are to act as a spotter, where he verifies that the flaps are down when the pilot lower them, and vice versa, since the pilots cannot see them.
The B-29 was the first bomber to be pressurized. In earlier bombers, crewmembers were exposed to the elements, so at high altitude, they froze. Fifi, however, is not pressurized, so it cruises below 10,000 ft.The bombardier would sit in the nose of the B-29, giving him a perfect view, due to the many windows. Fifi still has a Norden Bombsight, the type that significantly increased the precision of our bombers. When it was new, it was kept under strict secrecy.The forward bomb bay had dummy conventional bombs, simulating the real ones that my father, an armorer, had loaded in Guam.Fifi was never used in combat, because it came off the assembly line two weeks before the Japanese surrender. It was used by the Air Force as a trainer before it ended up in the China Lake
Bombing Range as a target. Fortunately, the CAF was able to rescue it before it was destroyed.Fifi has been used in several motion pictures, including the Enola Gay, and The Right Stuff, where it served as the mother ship for the X-1 in which Chuck Yeager first achieved Mach 1.Like the other CAF planes, Fifi runs on 100 low lead avgas.Yellow Rose, the B-25 on this tour, is from the CAF squadron in San Marcos, TX. It had numerous deactivated guns, including four packet guns on the front. Earlier models of the B-25 did not have these, so enemy fighters would attack head-on. When these guns were installed, however, many enemy fighters were fatally surprised.
The price of the tickets vary, depending on the plane being flown. For the B-29, the price also varies with the seat the passenger will occupy. For the B-25, however, everyone pays the same price, and during the flight, everyone changes positions, giving an opportunity to experience the flight from every position.For additional information, check out www.commemorativeairforce.org and www.AirPowerTour.org.
The price of the tickets are not cheap, but it’s not because the operators are making money, since they are all highly dedicated volunteers, whose passion is to share the experience of flying these historic aircraft. Aircraft are expensive to maintain and operate, but this is especially true for these historic aircraft, where “preserve” must be added to “maintain and operate.”Until just recently, “Fifi” was the only B-29 still flying. I first saw it fly 40 years ago, when the CAF had an annual airshow at their headquarters at the Harlingen (HRL), TX, airport, in which CAF aircraft from all over the U. S. would participate in a reenactmant of the Second World War. At the time, the pilot was Paul Tibbetts, the pilot of the “Enola Gay” that had dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. He continued to fly it for the CAF until hearing problems grounded him. His son and grandson, however, have continued flying this historic aircraft.For this stopover at IKK, the pilot was Al Benzing, an airline pilot who had been flying Fifi for some 3 years. The copilot was Jeff Skiles of “Miracle on the Hudson” fame.The CAF consists of some 76 units in various locations, with each one operating one or more planes. Fifi is part of the B-29/B-24 squadron at Ft. Worth’s Meacham Field (FTW), although, as Glenn Mount explained, a person can belong to as many CAF squadrons as he wishes, as long as he pays his dues to each, in addition to the dues to the CAF HQ. He belongs to the Central California Valley Squadron in Modesto, CA, but he also belongs to the B-29/B-24 Squadron. This squadron has members from all over the U. S., who share their love of keeping these historic aircraft flying and bringing the experience to the public. One need not be a pilot to join the CAF, as it consists of people from all walks of life, veterans and civilians alike.The CAF headquarters is now located at the Dallas Executive Airport (DEA), also known as “Redbird.” The CAF’s museum is currently in crates, but they hope to eventually house the museum there.All four engines of this B-29 were started, as one would expect, but for taxiing, the outboard engines were shut down. Benzing explained that it was because the engines are fairly close to the ground. “When we go into an airport, we check to see the width of the taxiways and where the taxiway lights are. Shutting the outboards down, however, makes taxiing a lot more difficult.” The B-29 has no nose gear steering, so turns are accomplished with differential braking and power on the outboard engines…if they are running.A B Taylor, a former Army navigator who flew MC-12s in Afghanistan, was also on the crew. “The navigation equipment is still there, but it is not functional…” since navigation is done by modern-day GPS. Among his crew duties are to act as a spotter, where he verifies that the flaps are down when the pilot lower them, and vice versa, since the pilots cannot see them.The B-29 was the first bomber to be pressurized. In earlier bombers, crewmembers were exposed to the elements, so at high altitude, they froze. Fifi, however, is not pressurized, so it cruises below 10,000 ft.The bombardier would sit in the nose of the B-29, giving him a perfect view, due to the many windows. Fifi still has a Norden Bombsight, the type that significantly increased the precision of our bombers. When it was new, it was kept under strict secrecy.The forward bomb bay had dummy conventional bombs, simulating the real ones that my father, an armorer, had loaded in Guam.Fifi was never used in combat, because it came off the assembly line two weeks before the Japanese surrender. It was used by the Air Force as a trainer before it ended up in the China LakeBombing Range as a target. Fortunately, the CAF was able to rescue it before it was destroyed.Fifi has been used in several motion pictures, including the Enola Gay, and The Right Stuff, where it served as the mother ship for the X-1 in which Chuck Yeager first achieved Mach 1.Like the other CAF planes, Fifi runs on 100 low lead avgas.Yellow Rose, the B-25 on this tour, is from the CAF squadron in San Marcos, TX. It had numerous deactivated guns, including four packet guns on the front. Earlier models of the B-25 did not have these, so enemy fighters would attack head-on. When these guns were installed, however, many enemy fighters were fatally surprised.The price of the tickets vary, depending on the plane being flown. For the B-29, the price also varies with the seat the passenger will occupy. For the B-25, however, everyone pays the same price, and during the flight, everyone changes positions, giving an opportunity to experience the flight from every position.For additional information, check out www.commemorativeairforce.org and www.AirPowerTour.org. 