PORT ANGELES — Airplane lovers, history buffs and anyone who looks up will see a blast of the American past this week as the Wings of Freedom tour flies into Port Angeles.
Vintage World War II aircraft will land at William R. Fairchild International Airport today for the three-day living history exhibit.
The public can tour the inside of a P-51 Mustang, a B-24 Liberator and a B-17 Flying Fortress today through Friday for a $12 donation.
The historic planes will be displayed at the airport’s east general ramp from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. today, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and from 9 a.m. to noon Friday.
After the display, the planes will take off with people with reserved flights.
Children 12 and younger can see the exhibit for a $6 donation.
“The kids get a sense of history and understand where we came from,” said Alan Barnard, organizer for the Port Angeles visit.
Thirty-minute flights aboard the B-17 and B-24 are booked. They sold for $425 per person.
Despite its small-market size, Port Angeles sees a high degree of ridership when the tour stops on the North Olympic Peninsula every two years.
A combination of its high concentration of veterans and local marketing have made Port Angeles as lucrative as many larger markets on the 110-city tour, Barnard said.
The Wings of Freedom tour is organized by the Collings Foundation, a Stow, Mass., nonprofit group that focuses on education through living histories.
Money from the tours and flights helps pay for maintenance of the aging aircraft.
This year marks the 20th edition of the Wings of Freedom tour, which Barnard described as a hands-on living history that can’t be replicated by a picture in a book.
The B-24 and P-51 that will arrive from Bremerton today are the only fully restored and flying examples of their kind in the world.
The B-17 is one of nine in flying condition.
