A B-24 Flight with my Grandfather

Burlington, NC - 10/28/08

The long awaited flight aboard a WWII warbird. The Collings Foundation B-24J Liberator "Witchcraft." The B-24 was the workhorse bomber of WWII, dropping more bombs than the B-17 and being superior in almost every aspect. The world's only remaining of its type in flying condition. The flight was quite expensive, but the money goes to great cause: Honoring my grandfather and keeping the sole B-24 flying.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• airplane
• B-24
• B-24J
• b24
• liberator
• bomber
• wwii
• veteran
• usaf
• usaaf
• collings
• foundation
• witchcraft
• dragon
• aviation
• flight
• burlington
• NC
• north
• carolina
• tail
• ball
• turret
• .50
• cal

[13thLiberator]

Sup wyo :) To Jim: After the flight I said "B-17 next" so I'm looking forward to the next visit in the area next year. I'm sorry to hear about your grandfathers...this generation of ppl is fading away, and I felt like I was putting my grandfather's life in full circle with this experience. I am going to miss all the WWII veterans and it makes me get tears thinking about it.

Yeah, I was supposed to be seated, not sure why, but I kinda forgot... oops... lol

And thank you!

[13thLiberator]

Thank you! And I can't imagine what it was like being in this plane while being shot at helplessly. RIP to all of the fallen of the USAF and God bless!

[NX73R]

Ahh man! I would give all my money and my left testicle to fly one of those!

Your grandfather looks happy =)

Hope hes doing well

God Bless him

[guestandrinehart]

Liberator,

What a beautiful experience to share with your grandfather. Thanks for sharing it with us. God bless your grandfather and all those who served our country in WWII.

I flew on Witchcraft this past Sunday (10/9/11) at Westminster, MD. Search guestandrinehart on Youtube to see my vid.

Semper Fidelis

[AlHillATC]

My Uncle was a Liberator tech with the Royal Air Force, in the Middle East/North Africa :) 'Thumbs up'

[k80nya]

You must be so proud to have your Grandad who flew in these aircraft, My Dad was a trooper in Burma involved in Jungle warfare with the Japs. Kindest regards Lee in England.

[TheLimbReaper]

This is a fantastic tribute to your grandfather and a great experience that you were able to share with him.

[famousnumber5]

I remember flying in Witchcraft. My grandfather flew with the 14th Airforce 308th Bomb group with the Flying Tigers over China. He was a gunner in one of these. When i told him that I flew in a B-24, it brought tears to his eyes.

I salute all of the Veterans from current and past wars.

[cavalrytm]

@13thLiberator

I wouldn't say totally helpless, they were packing some serious firepower of their own and a lot of enemy fighter were shot down by gunners on bombers.

[phishinvan]

I got to do the same thing with my Grandfather. The B-24 was called "The Dragon and His Tail". I actually think it might be the same one is this video after it was repainted and renamed. My Grandfather was a left waist gunner on a B-24 that was shot down over Germany on 9/11/1944. Of a crew of 10 men, only my Grandfather and 1 other crewman made it out alive. What an honor it was to fly with my Grandfather on the plane he was in during WWII. Truly amazing!

[rubiconxj]

I was aboard this plane yesterday at the Tacaoma International Airport in Gig Harbor, WA.

As well as the B-17

My Grandfather also flew aboard B-24's as a tailgunner. He later trained aboard B-17's to then go on as a Navigator aboard B-29's.

He flew the very last mission over Japan, wiping out their remaining oil reserves.

My grandfather is still kickin it at the age of 90.

[LVEbonys]

You did the right thing. Fly boys will always be fly boys. Your grandfather seemed very quiet, I can only imagine all that was going on in his mind. Part of their soul remained forever in those war birds no matter what else they did later in life.

[norm100066]

That's very cool. Thank's for sharing this with us. I did a walk through tour of the Collings B-24 and B-17 and it was really great. I was dying to go up but... maybe next time. The personal angle of your video is what makes it special. And the slides from WWII are especially interesting. Very nice. Moving.