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Warbirds Visit Spokane

Photo by Steve Jackson

If you hear the deep-throated growl of a piston-powered aircraft in the next few days around Spokane, be sure to look up. You may have a chance to spot a vintage World War II aircraft overhead.

Several “warbirds” are in town until Wednesday.

The planes belong to the Collings Foundation and are in Spokane as part of its Wings of Freedom tour.

Seeing the planes on the Tarmac at Spokane International Airport is quite a spectacle. There is a B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, B-25 Mitchell, and special two-seat versions of the famous P-51 Mustang and P-40 WarHawk fighter planes.

The planes go out on tour, and always draw a crowd of both young people and those old enough to have served on them during World War II.

44-year old Eric Whyte is a volunteer pilot who is in the driver’s seat of the B-24 on its Spokane visit.

He says he likes the B-24 the best, compared to the other Collings Foundation planes.

“It’s different from our other bombers. It’s a little more difficult to fly. It’s a lot of fun,” Whyte said.

This B-24 actually flew in combat during the war, serving first in anti-submarine warfare in the European theater, then flying to India, where it was used in missions against the Japanese. After the war it served in the Indian Air Force, from 1947 until its retirement in 1969.

Currently there are only two B-24’s in the world that are still flying.

Pilot Whyte says the most exciting part of the tour is meeting with the few surviving crew members alive or their families to share the memories.

One recent highlight was when they met Dick Cole, who was Colonel Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot on the B-25 raid against Japan in 1942. They gave the old flyer a chance at the controls of their B-25, named Tondelao.

“He was 99 years old when he took Tondelao, and I’ll tell you he flew that airplane, and he hadn’t flown in a while and it was nice and smooth,” he said.

Whyte says they are always surprised by the older folks that show up, including one man who said, while he had never flown in a B-24 before, that it was that type of plane that had saved his life.

“And he took his hand and showed me his arm and there was a tattoo and he was a concentration camp survivor," Whyte said. "And he said one morning the guards left and all the Germans disappeared, they heard the sound of engines. And they went out into the yard and B-24s came over and dropped boxes with parachutes, food, water and medical supplies. And it was the first time in seven years they had hope, and I just wanted to come out and say thank you."

“And its not just combat veterans," Whyte said. "A little old lady came out, and she was a pistol, and she was 100 if she was a day and she said, 'Young man, where was this plane made?' And I said Fort Worth, Texas, and she said I can prove it, and she jumped under the bomb bay and pointed to her initials, and said I built this airplane and you boys better take care of it."

Flights on the planes are available. For more information you can look for the Wings of Freedom Tour online. The planes will depart Spokane International at noon on Wednesday.

Steve was part of the Spokane Public Radio family for many years before he came on air in 1999. His wife, Laurie, produced Radio Ethiopia in the late 1980s through the '90s, and Steve used to “lurk in the shadowy world” of Weekend SPR. Steve has done various on air shifts at the station, including nearly 15 years as the local Morning Edition host. Currently, he is the voice of local weather and news during All Things Considerd, writing, editing, producing and/or delivering newscasts and features for both KPBX and KSFC. Aside from SPR, Steve ,who lives in the country, enjoys gardening, chickens, playing and listening to music, astronomy, photography, sports cars and camping.