When I wrote about the airplanes at the recent Washington Island Fly-in Fish Boil, I didn’t know that an amazing group of World War II airplanes would be in Madison one week later. So, please pardon me for sharing comments and photos on airplanes in two consecutive entries, but I couldn’t help it. The airplanes at Truax Field were part of the CAF Airpower History Tour and were in town prior to appearing at the Experimental Aircraft Association’s 2013 AirVenture Air Show this week in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
The stars of the show were three big bombers, the B-29 Superfortress “FIFI,” the B-17 Flying Fortress “Aluminum Overcast,” and the B-24 Liberator “Diamond Lil.” There were also a P51 Mustang, an SB2C Hell Diver and other planes. If you could afford the airfare, you could go for a short flight on any of several of these aircraft. That gave those of us stuck on the ground the opportunity to watch them take off and land. I was surprised how close we were allowed to get to the planes as they taxied to and from their positions on the tarmac. Hearing the big props start up one-at-a-time and seeing the planes lumber down the runway was quite an experience.
In June 2005 I went to see similar aircraft at an airfield outside of Portland, Oregon, and was amazed at the bare-bones construction methods used when time and money were both in very short supply. Steel frames covered with thin metal skin, windows open to the sky with machine guns protruding, no heat, no comfort, just the absolute minimum needed to do the job. It’s hard to imagine these planes, manned with crews made up of young men — often only in their late teens and early twenties, flying off to war. Brave men, indeed.