(La Porte, IN) - Two bomber planes from World War II are available for tours and flights as part of Air Fair 2024 at LaPorte Municipal Airport.
The 5th annual event featuring a B-25 and B-17 along with food trucks and other attractions like an antique car display and crafters opened Thursday and runs through Sunday.
The planes have been to the Air Fair previously but never together.
“This is the first time they’ve both been here, which is really exciting,” said La Porte Municipal Airport Planning and Outreach Manager Rachel Boulahanis.
Originally, the B-17 was scheduled to touch down here Thursday but its arrival was pushed back until Friday because of the need to replace a tire on the aircraft in Cincinnati, where it appeared with the B-25 for a similar event, said Mitch Counce, a member of the flight crew for the Arizona Commemorative Air Force.
The organization run by volunteers with a love for aviation owns the planes and museum containing other wartime aircraft and memorabilia in Mesa, Arizona.
Counce said the B-25 with a capacity to hold as many as seven passengers flew 15 combat missions during a one month period in 1944 mostly to bomb railroad bridges in Italy and Yugoslavia.
There were attempts to shoot down the plane, which managed to safely return despite a number of bullet holes that were later repaired.
“We’re lucky to have it here,” he said.
He said the B-17 holding a maximum of eight passengers never saw actual combat duty because the war ended prior to its first scheduled mission.
The plane was used away from combat during the war, though, in the South Pacific for mapping and reconnaissance missions and collecting data in the clouds from atomic weapons testing.
Boulahanis said the roughly 30 minute flights that include discussion about the history of the planes are offered primarily on mornings and tours during the afternoon.
She said the cost of each flight depending on the plane and seating ranges from $375 to $850 per person. Flights can be booked in advance. Tours cost $15 per person or $30 for a family of four.
The money is used by the AZCAF to cover the cost of fuel and maintenance of the aircraft.
“They’re a non-profit organization so these are the funds that help them keep these planes up in the air,” she said.
Helicopter rides for $65 apiece will be offered by another organization Saturday and Sunday, she said.
The gates open at 9 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. each day. Admission and parking are free of charge.
Counce said there are 500 volunteers with AZCAF doing tasks ranging from going on tours with the planes, maintaining them and doing administrative work.
In May, he said the planes started flying to 26 different event locations in the United States and Canada for the summer.
He said La Porte is among the final stops before the planes return to the museum for heavy maintenance and being on display for winter, the busiest time at the museum because of the number of retirees heading to Arizona to escape the cold.
Counce, who’s a general aviation pilot, said he became a volunteer from a visit to the museum after he retired in 2015 as manager of an agricultural consulting and laboratory firm in Kansas.
“That summer I was on tour and I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said.
Counce said he especially appreciates his visits with World War II veterans showing up at tours since there are very few still alive.
“They’re the greatest generation ever and it’s our responsibility with these airplanes to educate, honor and preserve their memory and the sacrifices they made to keep us the free country that we are,” he said.
