Wings of Freedom Tour

May 10, Thursday Today Carol and I went to San Luis Obispo for a WWII bomber display at their airport. It is called the "Wings of Freedom Tour 2007 and is run by the Collings Foundation (http://www.collingsfoundation.org/) . Carol's dad was a top turret gunner on B-24s in the European Theater. As I understand it, he was shot down a few times over France, only to get back to friendly lines and fly again. There really wasn't any luxury in these bombers. On these points Roger had to say-

"Family folklore had it that Dad was a tail gunner on the B-24. Bill Coleman, the navigator on the crew believed that he was the Martin Turret gunner, the one on the top of the plane. Dad's crew crash landed twice. Once in France because of bullet holes in the gas tank made them run out of gas."
"The other time they crash landed back at the base in England because of a malfunction in the wing flaps. No one was hurt in either incident. I went down to Long Beach airport a few weeks ago and checked the three bombers again."
"Cool stuff!!"

And Gary had to say-

"My dad was involved in 2 crash landings, once in France when they ran out of fuel, the 2nd time in England when the landing gear malfunctioned. On the first crash, the landing gear in the front was jammed through the plane on impact, leaving the plane almost vertical with the nose in the ground and the tail sticking up. Bill Coleman (navigator) describes a wild dash of the crew from the plane, exiting from holes that were torn through the outer skin, fearing a fire or explosion. He calls it a miracle no one was seriously injured."
"On the second episode in England, their landing gear failed to fully deploy and lock. Bill described a special airfield in England they were diverted to for just such an emergency. He says the landing strip was over 5 miles long. He talks about the landing, and the position of the failed landing gear prevented the pilot from deploying the flaps, and therefore could not slow down the plane. As they were approaching the end of this 5 mile landing strip, the pilot ordered all crew to the rear of the plane. All the weight of the crew forced the tail down to runway, scraping along, acting as a brake. This worked in stopping the plane, although the plane was totaled from all the tail damage. "