Wings of Freedom Tour

We checked out the vintage aircraft brought to the Washington Airport by The Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom Tour. The tour included four WWII aircraft that offer rides and in one case the chance to fly a vintage plane. 

We were having our morning coffee when we heard the distinctive sound of a B-17 flying over. We decided we wanted to get an up close look at these beautifully restored planes so Nanc and I went on Wednesday afternoon and Mike and I went back Thursday morning to watch all four of them depart.  

Not part of the tour but very neat to see is this bi-plane taking off behind the B-17 Flying Fortress.

This B-17, one of 12,731 built, was put into service in April 1945, too late to serve in combat. This plane served as part of the 1st Air/Sea Rescue Squadron and for the Military Air Transport Service. In 1952 she was fitted with instruments to measure the effect of three nuclear explosions. After a 13 year "cool down" period it was refitted to be used to drop water on forest fires. In 1986 she was sold to the Collings Foundation to be restored to her wartime configuration.     

Each of the planes are painted with the name of a plane that flew missions during WWII. This one is the "Nine-O-Nine" that was part of the 91st Bomb Group, 323rd Squadron. The Nine-O-Nine made eighteen trips to Berlin between February 1944 and April 1945, dropping 562,000 pounds of bombs. In that time she had 21 engine changes, four wing panel replacements and fifteen fuel tank changes. When the war ended she had 600 patched bullet holes.

Looking out the nose where the bombardier flew. Two of the plane's thirteen 50 milometer machine guns are mounted here.

Nanc in the bomb bay. The B-17 could carry up to 8,000 pounds of bombs. Depending on the mission it carried eight 1,000 pound bombs or sixteen 500 pounders.

The plane had a crew of ten, most of whom were machine gunners. I sure would not want to be the guy in the belly turret. They were in a bad spot if they could not get the turret into a position where they could get out and the plane had to do a crash landing.

The tail gunner was one of the worst positions. When I started teaching in Washington one of the teachers at the high school had been a tail gunner on a B-17. You can take a half hour flight on this plane for $450.00. 

The P-51 Mustang was designed to escort and protect bombers on the long flights from England to Germany. It had a range of 1,600 miles at speeds up to 440 mph, with six 50 caliber wing mounted machine guns.

  The Toulouse Nuts is one of only three original TF-51D two-seaters. It was used to train pilots. It is painted with the markings of a West Virginia Air Guard, 167th Fighter Squadron. You can go up in this plane for $2,200 dollars for a half hour or $3,300 for an hour. At those prices you get to take the controls. Not sure I would want to go up in a plane that had flames coming out of the engine as it prepared to taxi to the runway.

The B-25 Mitchell was a medium range bomber that was used primarily in the Pacific, but served in all theaters during WWII. Nearly 10,000 B-25's with a range of 1,350 miles and able to carry 1,200 pounds of bombs, were built. These planes became famous when Jimmy Doolittle lead 16 B-25's on a bombing raid on Tokyo only four months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The plane had to take off from the USS Hornet, an aircraft carrier that got them closer to Japan.  

This B-25 was given the name Tondelayo and it flew with the Air Apaches in the South Pacific raiding the Japanese in New Guinea. The name came from a character played by Hedy Lamarr in the 1942 movie White Cargo.

Rides are also available on the B-25. The 25 minute flight cost $400.00. The roar of those engines is an unmistakable sound.

This B-24 Liberator heavy bomber is one of nearly 18,500 built. It was delivered to the US Army Air Force in October 1944 and then transferred to the Royal Air Force. In the Pacific Theater it was used for bombing missions and resupplying resistance forces. Following the war it was used by the Indian Air Force until 1968. 

In 2005 she was repainted with the name Witchcraft to honor the veterans of the 8th Air Force who flew in Europe. The original Witchcraft flew an unbelievable 130 combat missions over Europe without ever turning back or having a crew member injured or killed. 

The B-24 had ten 50 caliber machine guns. I can't imagine the bravery of the men who flew in these planes as pilots, navigators, bombardiers and gunners.  

The B-24 carried up to 8,000 pounds of bombs. Then only way from the front to the tail was across this narrow catwalk above the bomb bay doors.

A look into the cockpit gives one a clear understanding of what complex machines all these bombers were. It's a good thing RV manufactures were not building them, we may have lost the war.

On Thursday Mike and I went to see the planes take off to there next destination. Seeing them on the ground is one thing......

........seeing these 75 year old planes in the air is fantastic. You can take a 30 minute flight for $450.00.

These old engines were real oil burners and smoked a lot when they fired them up.

All three bombers preparing to depart one after the other. 

You want to cool off on a hot day just stand in the prop wash of one of these planes. Mike's shirt was flapping and the leaves on the trees across the road were shaking.

The B-17 taking off while the B-25 waits its turn. While we did not spend the money to fly, getting up close to these great, old planes that played such a big role in winning WWII is something you should not miss if the Wings of Freedom Tour is in your area. 

While not part of the Wings of Freedom Tour, the Spirit of Freedom C-54 is parked at the Washington Airport. It has been restored as a museum and to honor those who flew the Berlin Airlift in 1948-49. It is owned by the Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation and appears at many shows around the country every year.

We continue to be busy with family, friends and doctors here in WashPA. We are working on a couple RV projects but the weather has not been good for working outside, either too hot or rainy. We are here until the middle of October before heading south for the winter.

Still Busy in WashPA

The weather here in WashPA has been very wet and humid but the temps have been staying out of the 90's and the rain has been less than they have been getting east of here. For us, the forecast almost every day is what we grew up with, partly cloudy with a chance of showers. We are in a routine of, generally, going to the same restaurants, checking out the local music scene and seeing the same friends every week. We did go to a gathering of a few of my Union High School Class of 1964 classmates. I missed the 50th reunion in 2014 because we were in Alaska. It was neat seeing some high school mates, but I was surprised at how old they were:) The only picture we took was me with my most famous (at least for friends from Wisconsin) classmate Barry Alvarez. Unfortunately, the unnamed photographer (initials NJT) failed to get the pic.     

The retired teachers lunch bunch was invited to Ed and Donna's place for an afternoon of food, fun and beverages. Here are Donna. Carol, Cliff and Ed. 

Reggie and John swapping tales.

Ron and Becky

Jim was celebrating his 75th birthday with a toast of Fireball and a Yuengling chaser. 

Tish, Nanc, Pat and Gail

Bill and Karen

Bernie and Jim

Donna, Linda, Georgie and Kathy. These lunch bunch gatherings are always a fun time getting caught up with what my former co-workers and their spouses have been doing in retirement. 

Paul and Georgie. A big thanks to Ed and Donna for hosting the lunch bunch.

On Wednesday we went to Al an' Rubens for dinner and to hear the Dan Baker Group. Dan on guitar, Josh on sax were Washington students and Jim on the trombone was a teacher and band director there.

The ladies usually get together on Thursday afternoon for lunch, shopping and games. Mike and I use the opportunity to go fishing. How about this nice bass I caught. Mike would not let me take a picture of his fish because I would have had to put the camera on micro.

We heard my cousin Missy and her husband Marty were going to the Bull Pen to listen to music on Sunday, so we decided to join them and get caught up on what they have been doing since we last saw them. They are going to be grandparents early next year and their other son Marty is getting married next June, so they will be real busy. 

The Jason Craig Band was great. They played a nice mix of old time rock n' roll. If you get a chance to see them don't miss it.

The wildlife continues to entertain us here at Pine Cove.

We took Opus to the local Cummins dealer to see if they could diagnose the ongoing acceleration issue. They put Opus on the computer and, like the last three places, they found no fault codes. They checked the exhaust brake and the flipper is working fine. I took a twenty mile test drive with the mechanic who monitored the computer on the ride. Unfortunately, the problem did not occur on the test drive. They told us the problem may be caused by a worn out electronic gas pedal. Their recommendation: When it happens again use the speed control (which by-passes the pedal) to try and accelerate. If that works, the problem is the pedal. So, it looks like we won't know if that is the problem until we leave here in October. Of course, if it is we will have to find someplace to have the pedal replaced.  Oh the joys of living on the road.    

Back in WashPA

We are back in WashPA for our annual stay to see friends and family and to get our doctor and dentist check ups. Our get-togethers are usually at the local restaurants we like to support while we are here. We have been joining the retired teachers lunch bunch ever Wednesday and checking out the local music scene. I have failed to get pictures of most of these gatherings, but we are here for three months so I have time to get a shot of everyone.  

We sure were happy to see this sign as the problems with Opus continued on our trip from New York. We have another appointment at the local Cummins dealer, the fifth different repair place, and hopefully they will find the solution to the problem.

We got our usual spot at Pine Cove right by the woods, so we are entertained by the wildlife quite often. The deer are cute but also very destructive, eating people's shrubs and causing many automobile accidents. Between Nanc and I we have hit four. There are many bunnies this year and they seem like they are often playing with the deer.  

We got a message that Richard and Valerie were going to Pittsburgh to check on his elderly aunt. They stopped for a light brunch so we had a chance to get caught up with what they have been doing since we last saw them this spring in Baton Rouge. Seeing friends on the road is the best.

We have been going to the Washington Jazz Society's Sunday brunch at The Presidents Pub. We got to hear guitarist Dan Baker as a soloist rather than with his regular group. If you like music don't miss a chance to hear Dan.

After the jazz brunch we checked out some of the cars at the car show on Main Street. Unfortunately, most of the cars were gone by the time we got there.

How about this beautiful 1930 Ford Model A. We always like going to car shows to check out how people restore these old wonders. 

In all our years living here we had never been to the Mountain Playhouse in Jennerstown, Pennsylvania's oldest professional summer stock theater. Each year from May to October they have a number of plays. This year is their 79th season of great summer entertainment.

We had great front row seats for the performance of Million Dollar Quartet. The play is based on a true story, the gathering of four famous musicians at the recording studios of Sam Phillip's Sun Records in Memphis on December 4, 1956.

Those four performers were Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. Here are a few of the songs they recorded that night that were performed in the play; Blue Suede Shoes, Fever, Great Balls of Fire, Hound Dog, Folsom Prison Blues, Sixteen Tons and See You Later Alligator. If you love this music don't miss a chance to see Million Dollar Quartet.  The show was incredible!

Tim, Jim, Mike, Di, Sherri, Georgie and Nanc waiting for an audition at Sun Records. The music had us all rockin to those old tunes. It was a fun day with fun people and fantastic music and Georgie was lucky enough to get a scarf from Elvis!!!

Another Sunday and another jazz brunch. This week it was Mark Strickland on guitar. If you like jazz and happen to be in the Washington area, we recommend a stop at the Presidents Pub.

Eleanor Roosevelt and the Vanderbilt Mansion

We stayed in New York for an extra day after the HOP to tour two National Park Service sites in Hyde Park, since we don't know when we will be back in this part of the country.

Our first stop was the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, her home Val-Kill. Eleanor was born in 1884 in New York. Her early life was filled with tragedy, her mother dying in 1892, her brother in 1893 and her father in 1894. At her wedding in 1905 where she married her distant cousin Franklin, she was given away by the POTUS, her Uncle Teddy. There main home was Springwood in Hyde Park that I covered in the last post.

Val-Kill was built 1924-26 from a design done by FDR. In the late 20's, along with her friends Nancy Cook and Marion Dickerson, they turned the home into an industrial center where local farmers made furniture and forged pewter items during the slack season on the farms. After FDR contracted polio, she along with Cook and Dickerson supported him in his return to politics. For her entire adult life Eleanor was an activist supporting the League of Nations and the World Court after WWI, joining the Urban League and NAACP in 1934 and resigning from the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1939 when the group would not allow African American opera singer Marion Anderson perform in their hall. After that, Eleanor and FDR arranged for Marion to perform at the Lincoln Memorial before 75,000 people.

   After Val-Kill Industries failed in 1936, the building was converted into a twenty room cottage. Eleanor's secretary Malvina Thompson lived in this part of the home until she died in 1953. It was then made into an office for Eleanor. Until FDR died in 1945 Eleanor stayed here when he was not at Springwood. After his death, Springwood was turned over to the National Park Service and she lived the remainder of her life commuting between New York City and Val-Kill. 

During WWII, Nederlands Queen Wilhelmina and her family, who had escaped the Nazis, often visited Val-Kill. After the war President Truman appointed Eleanor as our delegate to the United Nations where she served on the Committee for Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs. She was in the UN until Eisenhower was elected in 1952.  

Val-Kill became an important stop for leaders from around the world. French President Auriol decorated her as Commander of the Order of the Legion of Honor here. Other visitors included Nehru of India, Tito of Yugoslavia, Selassie of Ethiopia and Khrushchev of the USSR. In 1960 John Kennedy sat in the chair in the background to ask her for her endorsement as president. She agreed after he committed to support civil rights. Eleanor died in 1962 and was buried along side Franklin in the rose garden at the Hyde Park estate. Kennedy, Johnson, Eisenhower and Truman all attended the funeral.

Stone Cottage, located on the grounds near Val-Kill, was where the only swimming pool on the Roosevelt estate was built. It was a favorite place for FDR who swam to maintain his strength after he contracted polio. We have been to Hyde Park twice and still have not seen all the Roosevelt sites. Top Cottage, a small home that FDR built in the 1930's as an escape from the crowd at Springwood, is still on our to do list. All the sites offer an interesting look into the lives of the Roosevelt family.

Just down the road from the Roosevelt home is the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site. The home was the spring and fall country estate of Frederick Vanderbilt, the son of William and grandson of Cornelius. The mansion, one of 40 built by the Vanderbilt family, is a look into how the super rich lived during the Gilded Age following the Civil War. 

When Frederick and his wife Louise bought the 600 acre estate in 1895 they wanted a temporary home to use while the big mansion was being built. This16 room house was built in two months and is now the park service visitors center. 

The 54 room Beaux-Arts mansion designed by McKim, Mead and White, America's top architectural firm at the time, took three years to build. Craftsmen did all the carving of wood and stone on the site. 

Many of the furnishings for the mansion where purchased from European families that had fallen on hard times. The walls and floors were covered with expensive Persian rugs. The total cost for construction and furnishings was $2,250,000. 

The wealthy of the time were enamored with the style of the French aristocrats. This included not only the building and the furnishings but also the food they ate.

One of many Persian rugs in the mansion. Some of those rugs have been taken down to preserve them.

Since the main purpose of the mansion was to entertain their wealthy friends the dining room was huge. 

Louise's bedroom, boudoir and bathroom where an exact replica of Marie Antoinette's. It included a birthing rail, that in France was where the members of the queen's court would gather to watch the birth to confirm the gender of the child.  

Frederick's bedroom, also on the second floor is modeled after the French king's. Our park service guide told us that Cornelius' great-great-granddaughter Gloria Vanderbilt (of fashion fame) and her young son Anderson Cooper (CNN journalist) once came for a tour. She insisted on doing the public tour and telling the rest of the group what it was like being at the mansion as a child. How cool would that have been?

One of many guest rooms. Where guests stayed was determined by their social status. Some stayed on the second floor near Frederick and Louise while five other guest rooms were on the third floor, where some servants also had rooms. While the Vanderbilt family were some of the wealthiest people in the country, they did not have the same social status as their neighbors, the Roosevelt family, who had "old money" wealth and social status. 

The mansion had all the modern conveniences of the time; from central heating, indoor plumbing and electricity to its own power station. One thing it did not have was refrigerators, they used ice boxes.   

The staff dining room. The mansion was pretty much self sustaining, providing food and flowers for the family. When the Vanderbilts were staying at the mansion there was a staff of 60 that lived on or near the grounds that served them. The personal staff that traveled with them lived in the mansion.  

The gardens on the grounds date back to the 1790's (a hundred years before Frederick purchased the property)  when the owner Dr. Samuel Bard, an avid horticulturist, started to beautify the grounds with many plantings.

Vanderbilt expanded the formal gardens over the years that he owned the land. When Frederick died in 1938 Louise's niece inherited the estate. She was unable to sell it and was convinced by her neighbor, President Franklin Roosevelt, to donate the land and mansion to the U.S. government. It has been part of the park service since 1940. If you are in Hyde Park all the Roosevelt sites and the Vanderbilt mansion are well worth a visit.

We are now back in WashPA for our annual visit until the middle of October.