Witchcraft

There are only a couple flying B-24 bombers left in the world, and just the other day I had the great pleasure of riding in the belly of one of them.  Witchcraft is the lovingly-restored and tended Collings Foundation B-24 behemouth which travels with a B-17 and a P-51 around the United States to bring the living history of World War II to the masses.  At each location, WWII veterans are swarmed as honored guests.  Excited and fascinated children and their parents climb in and around the last aging but tough workhorses of the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Two years ago I might not have shelled out the cash to actually fly inside of one, but given the fact that I’m now researching and writing my first book about a B-24 waist gunner shot down over France in 1944, and I’ve been interviewing a B-24 nose gunner brought down over Hungary, going up became a single-pointed goal that I couldn’t shake.  In the end it proved to be money truly well spent.

The first walk-through on the ground (only $12) gave me a better idea of what my friends experienced, but nothing, NOTHING, could have really brought home what it was like for them until I went up in the loud, vibrating, magnificent beast.  Only once in the air and dragging myself painstakingly down the cramped, dark corridor to the nose on my hands and knees could I viscerally experience a fraction of the sheer effort and guts it took my nose gunner friend (lacerated by shattered plexiglass himself) to escape being locked in his turret to drag back the severely-wounded bombardier.  Imaging them both struggling along the narrow, deafening, black tunnel surrounded by flames until they reached the area behind the flight deck and in front of the bomb bay doors, made my heart swell with a mix of wonder, fear, pride, and gratitude to whichever angels helped them accomplish this nearly impossible task.

Then remembering that my nose gunner friend went over the narrow catwalk on bleeding feet four times to reach the men in the back before bailing out himself, expecting at any moment the fire in the wings and fuselage would reach the oxygen tanks and blow the ship, well….I can’t adequately express the admiration I feel for not only my both my B-24 gunner veteran friends, but all the crews who volunteered to save the world in this particular way.

If you don’t go up, you’ll miss the chance to actually feel a little of what they did, and what they went through, in your soul.

It costs the Collings Foundation $4,000 per flight hour to bring these amazing planes across the U.S., making $425 for a half an hour flight a veritable bargain for anyone who really wants to know, needs to know what these brave young men accomplished.   How many more years will these bombers be able to take flight?

The narrow window of opportunity to meet these incredible men and fly in their shoes is closing rapidly.

What are you waiting for?