Wings & Wheels 2017 has secured a WWII B-17 bomber for this year’s fly-in, set for September 15-17, at the Marion Municipal airport in Marion.
The Yankee Air Force (www.yankeeairmuseum.org), Belleville, Michigan, is home to “Yankee Lady”, a World War Two Boeing bomber, a.k.a. The Flying Fortress.
The B-17 is a four engine heavy bomber. It dropped more bombs than any other U.S. aircraft during WWII. 640,000 tonnes of bombs were dropped by B-17s. As of May 2015, just ten B-17s are airworthy. The number built is approximately 12,731 produced from 1936 to 1945 and cost approximately $238,329 per plane.
The “Yankee Lady” has been restored to pristine, award winning, specifications and will be offering rides to the public. Passengers will experience thirty exhilarating minutes of flight and be able to move about the “Flying Fortress” to crew positions in the Plexiglass nose, flight deck, bomb bay, radio room, and waist gunnery station.
The fly-in is also promoting the Experimental Aircraft Association’s “Young Eagles” program by giving first time flights to kids ages 8 to 17. The fly-in also has a cruise-in for the local dialysis organization. Other activities will be sail plane rides – Central Ohio Soaring Association, R/C, drone demonstrations and flight simulators – Marion Airfoils, and “Touch A Truck”.
Invitations to the fly-in have been sent to all EAA chapters in Ohio, and adjacent states. Pete Keelan, Ft. Wayne, Indiana will be flying in with his, multiple award winning,1955 North American Aviation T-28 Trojan.
Wings & Wheels 2017 is hoping to bring NASA’s “Journey To Tomorrow” exhibit and NASA Astronauts. Currently in fund raising mode to bring more exhibits, Wings & Wheels 2017 is nearing its $25,000.00 budget and would appreciate more donor participation to secure commitments with exhibitors. Interested parties can learn more by visiting the Wings & Wheels’ website.
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