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Taking the airplane ride of a lifetime
OK, I know, just about everybody has been for a ride in an airplane, commercial flight or a private plane of some kind. But this ... well, this was a whole new category.
As you all know (unless you have been held hostage somewhere) McCook is playing host to the ONLY flying B-29 and one of two flying B-24 World War II bombers. They are owned and maintained by the Commemorative Air Force and will be here all week through Heritage Days Weekend. CAF members and flight crew are all volunteers, taking vacation time from their regular jobs to fly the big birds to McCook and financing their own stay here.
They flew in Monday from Lincoln.
This is where the story starts. All of the local media (TV, radio, print) has been giving a lot of time and space to advertising this special event. Therefore, when seats became available for the flight from Lincoln to McCook, the media was given first choice.
Tragically, the editor (and fellow airplane nut) of the McCook Daily Gazette, Bruce Crosby, was unable to go. I felt it was my duty to volunteer myself to fill the void. Actually, I threatened him.
He finally got tired of my wailing and generally making a nuisance of myself in front of his desk. He gave ME the seat!!
So, we're off. Shelly Beyer drives Marie Owen (McCook Chamber of Commerce), Doug Vap (event organizer) and myself (Gazette representative) to Lincoln. Unfortunately, Shelly will have to drive herself back. I know she'll be disappointed, but I am also sure she will sooth her pain at several malls and stores where they are bound to be having a sale.
We arrived Sunday evening just in time to check out the planes and join the pilots and crews for supper. What an evening. These are just wonderful people doing something they love to do. If you get a chance to chat with these guys, by all means, do it. They have amazing stories you won't forget.
8 a.m. Monday morning, we arrive for our "briefing" and look over our prospective rides. Marie, Doug and Sen. Tom Baker (Col. Tom in the Commemorative Air Force) will be riding in the B-29 while Allison Toepperwine (KSNK TV) Wendy Koch (KNOP TV of North Platte and editor Crosby's niece), Jesse Stevens (Coyote Country radio) and I will be in the B-24. I went over to the B-24 to "scope it out."
This is a spartan airplane. There are no, and I mean none, amenities.
Don't be looking for a stewardess, drinks or little bags of peanuts here!! The thing is actually kinda small. About 8 feet wide and 10 feet tall. The seats are not much more than heavy-duty lawn chairs with their backs attached to the wall. The bomb bay is sealed shut; hence the ability to carry passengers.
They issue us earplugs. The engines start. Now you put in the earplugs. It's so loud, you have to read lips or use hand signals to communicate. When all four engines rev up as the take-off roll starts, you think your head will explode.
The ride is pretty rough. We are only at 1,000 feet altitude all the way to McCook. Several "lose their lunch." I am almost there, too. Then I find a spot where the wind is blowing into the cabin area. Whew!! Close call. Then I start to see some neat stuff.
We buzz an Army Air Field about like McCook's, but I don't know where it is. Then we fly over the ammunition factory from World War II in Hastings. What a place that must have been.
The "the biggie." The pilot asks if I want to take the controls.
Are you kidding?? Me? I am in the right seat so fast, I have no idea how I got there.
"It's real heavy on the controls," he says. "Kinda like flying an old truck with no power steering. Just keep 'Fifi' off your right wing."
He's joking, right? I am about to have a coronary and he wants me to fly this thing correctly ... with a B-29 flying right next to me!!??
It's a hoot!1 And, then we're in McCook. I have to go back to my seat and watch out the window as we buzz the McCook airport and then head north for a low pass over the old Army Air Base. The landing is a bit harsh but probably considered great for these old birds.
So, here's YOUR chance.
(1.) Go out to the airport and pony up your $5 bucks and take a tour through these history-making flying bits of nostalgia, then (2.) Decide if YOU want to take a ride in one of the last flying B-24 bombers. The rides will be given only on Sunday, I am told. (The pilots are back at their day jobs as airline pilots) and it takes a lot to bring the plane from static display to flying status.
It won't be cheap. ($350, I am told) but (1) It ain't like the fair ... they won't be back next year ... or ever(?). Remember that all life is, is memories, so go make one.
It will be rough, smelly, uncomfortable, horribly loud ... and the most fun you'll ever have.
For more details, call the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce, (308) 345-3200.