They are beautiful, and deadly. They are symbols of a time when the greatest generation raised its collective hand and volunteered to save the world.

And these were the instruments of that fight. Powered by aerogas and allied courage, these planes took their crews into harm’s way. The 8th Air Force were the only Americans fighting in Europe until D-Day. They lost more men in World War Two than the entire US Marine Corps.

And they did it in planes like the B-17 Flying Fortress, the iconic bomber featured in movies like Twelve O’Clock High and Memphis Belle.

Long, dangerous missions were the order of the day in the un-pressurized, thin aluminum tubes, in air so cold the crew wore electrically heated flight suits.

The B-24 Liberator was actually built in greater numbers and flown by men like Jimmy Stewart, Lloyd Bentsen and George McGovern.

It carried a slightly greater bomb load than the B-17, but was not considered as rugged.

The B-25 Mitchell medium bomber may have been the best of its class in any air force in the war.

It was made most famous by General Jimmy Doolittle and his crews in the first raid on Tokyo in World War II.

And protecting them all from enemy fighters, the long ranged, and high performance P-51 Mustang with the Rolls Royce Merlin 12-cylinder engine it shared with the British Spitfire.

And Friday, the planes from the Collings Foundation landed at Casper Natrona County International Airport for a 3 day stay through the weekend.

You can tour the planes for a $12 admission fee, $6 for children.

For, a lot more, you can actually go on a flight in any of them.

They will be available for tours from 9am to 5pm Saturday and Sunday.

 

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