As first seen here on local family site, Kidding Around Greenville...
Any history buffs or airplane enthusiasts in your bunch? In one week three historic WWII planes will be landing at the downtown Greenville airport as part of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Fighters & Bombers tour. The B-25 “Miss Mitchell,” a P-51 “Red Nose” and an SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber will be on display from May 5th through the 7th as part of a five-stop tour to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid over Japan. Many aircraft were scrapped for aluminum after the war, and so it is uncommon to find restored WWII planes that are still flight-worthy 70 years later; this is your chance to see not one, but three notorious aircraft up close!
Any history buffs or airplane enthusiasts in your bunch? In one week three historic WWII planes will be landing at the downtown Greenville airport as part of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) Fighters & Bombers tour. The B-25 “Miss Mitchell,” a P-51 “Red Nose” and an SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber will be on display from May 5th through the 7th as part of a five-stop tour to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Doolittle Raid over Japan. Many aircraft were scrapped for aluminum after the war, and so it is uncommon to find restored WWII planes that are still flight-worthy 70 years later; this is your chance to see not one, but three notorious aircraft up close!
The planes!
The
North American B-25 Mitchell is an American twin-engine, medium bomber named in
honor of aviation pioneer Major General William "Billy" Mitchell. The
B-25B was the bomber used in the Doolittle Raid four months after the bombing
of Pearl Harbor, and although the damage inflicted during the raid was
relatively minor, the mission forced the Japanese to divert troops for home
defense for the remainder of the war.
The
North American Aviation (NAA) P-51 Mustang is an American long-range,
single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean
War. During WWII the US P-51s carried out more than 213,873 missions, destroying
4,950 enemy aircraft – almost 50% of the total losses suffered by the enemy.
The
SBD was developed before WWII, and although it was considered obsolete when the
Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, it was the 1st American combat
aircraft to shoot down a Japanese Zero fighter, and is considered to have helped
turn the tide of WWII at the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942.
Tour info!
The
hours of this event are as follows: Friday May 5th 12:00pm – 5:00pm,
Saturday May 6th 9:00am- 5:00pm and Sunday May 7th
9:00am- 5:00pm. While there is no charge to view the aircraft, rides are only
available by purchase. For pricing and more information, please visit the CAF
Fighters & Bombers Tour website.
Parking
will be available near the Runway Cafe ramp of the Greenville Downtown Airport
(GMU), located on Airport Road Extension in Greenville. Plan on spending some
time at the aviation-themed playground during your visit, and if you get
hungry, the Runway Café has a kids menu… Check out my posts Aviation Park at GMU and Watching the planes posts for more on that!
The
Commemorative Air Force (CAF) is a non-profit organization, established with
the purpose of restoring and flying WWII aircraft. The organization is based in
Dallas, TX, and operates a fleet of more than 166 aircraft, the world’s largest
flying museum. To learn more about CAF’s mission to educate the present and
future generations visit their website. GMU has also been host to WWII planes during the Colling Foundation Wings of Freedom tour; for more on that please see my post WWII Bombers in Greenville.
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