Warplanes on display at Scottsdale Airport

WW2 planes on display

Dan O'Connor, For the Tribune
For some, a bird is just a bird by any other name. But for others, the stories they have carried through the wind speak volumes.

SLIDESHOW: See the planes on display with the Wings of Freedom Tour

For surviving World War II veterans and enthusiasts alike, aircraft names like B-17, B-24, B-25 and TP-51C bring to mind tales of victory, patriotism and freedom.

And as Scottsdale Airport hosts the three vintage bomber planes and one fighter today through Monday, visitors are able to observe - or actually take flight in - one of the restored planes that many hail as the bird-like machines that ended WWII.

Event coordinator Jack McIver said that as he rode from Albuquerque, N.M., to Scottsdale in the B-24 Friday, he was freezing cold. But instead of complaining, he said he was reminded of the young pilots that flew in the plane decades before him, defending his country.

"I was thinking about the 19- and 20-year-old kids in 1944 and 1945 flying in eight-hour missions over Nazi Germany," McIver said. "When it's below freezing in the airplanes with German planes shooting at them, a lot of them weren't as lucky to come home."

The B-24 he rode in is the only one in the world still in flying condition. The bomber, named Witchcraft, flew 130 successful combat missions and never lost a crew member.

Each aircraft carries its own miraculous tale of triumph. The B-17 bomber, for example, was subject to three nuclear blasts as a test subject, McIver said.

The goal of the tour is to allow people to partake in a tangible history lesson outside of the readings and teachings they may have been subjected to in school, said Hunter Chaney, director of marketing for the Collings Foundation.

"It's very difficult to learn what was going on (in the war) in a classroom experience," he said. "But when you're flying in these things, it's a very effective way to teach a younger generation about this particular time in history."

But even more amazing than the story of the sheet metal and Plexiglass that survived the war are the tales from the pilots who live today to tell about it, Chaney said.

"These are guys that flew their planes and lost most of their friends in the war," he said. "On average, one out of every three planes were lost.

"These were just kids that were flying in these planes."

For some, the thought of such sacrifice brings forth a sense of gratitude that transcends time.

"I want to thank you for the sacrifice you guys made. I owe everything I have to you. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you," a teary-eyed spectator said Friday, paying his respects to a decorated WWII veteran.

"I'm nobody. He's the one you want to talk to - he's the hero," said the man, who did not give his name.

The veteran, Homer Moeller, stood proudly next to Witchcraft. He said he flew in 13 missions over Germany and Vienna, Austria.

At the time, the Scottsdale resident was only 21 years old.

"I'd get in one day and didn't know if I would make it out," Moeller said of his experience as a B-24 co-pilot.

Although his missions over Europe are more than 60 years behind him, he said that his memories are fresh and he enjoys sharing them with anyone who asks.

Many of the planes he flew in were reduced to scrap metal after they served their purpose in the war, he said.

"They'd take a bulldozer and smash them and melt them down," he said. "They gave us some aluminum pots and pans out of them."

But Moeller's memories of the birds won't be reduced to kitchen utensils.

His memories will live on with him forever, he said.

slideshow pics of the planes

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