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Scott Maher is the director of flight operations for The Liberty Foundation.
1. Could you tell us about the Liberty Foundation and what its mission is? How did the idea come about?
The Liberty Foundation is a non-profit educational foundation that uses the aircraft with three goals. 1, Honor our Veterans. 2, preserve our aviation history and 3, Continue to teach current and future generations as to the high price of freedom. Our Founder, Don Brooks is the son of the original tale gunner of the Liberty Belle and always dreamed of restoring a B-17 in honor of his father and all our WWII veterans. We are losing around 1,500 WWII vets each day. With each death goes another story of courage and valor and these aircraft I hope properly represent those stories of courage and valor.
2. What sort of activities are planned for the 2011 Salute to Veterans tour that will take place in Kansas City May 21 and 22 at the Charles B. Wheeler Airport?
We are on a 50-city national tour. Our weekend in Kansas City will give folks the opportunity to come touch the past and fly through ageless skies. We will offer flights in both the B-17 and P-40 each day. For those that do not wish to fly we will also have the aircraft on the ground and available for ground tours and veterans out to talk about their expertise in the aircraft during WWII.
3. Where did your organization get the World War II B-17 Liberty Belle and the rare Curtiss P-40E Warhawk airplanes that will be featured at the event? What is their significance in World War II?
The B-17 was the work-horse of the 8th Bomb Group in WWII. The B-17 along with the B-24 were the heavy bombers of WWII. The P-40 was our frontline fighter at the beginning of the war and was flown by the famous Flying Tigers. The Liberty Foundation acquired the B-17 13 years after a tornado had its way with it and spent another 13 years and $4.5 million to restore. It is one of only 10 still flying worldwide out of the 12,731 B-17s built for the war. Our P-40 was operated in the Aleutian Islands during WWII and was damaged in a landing accident in 1942. We acquired the remains of the aircraft and spent six years and $1.8 million to restore the P-40 back to flying status and she is now one of eight still flying worldwide.
Scott Maher is the director of flight operations for The Liberty Foundation.
1. Could you tell us about the Liberty Foundation and what its mission is? How did the idea come about?
The Liberty Foundation is a non-profit educational foundation that uses the aircraft with three goals. 1, Honor our Veterans. 2, preserve our aviation history and 3, Continue to teach current and future generations as to the high price of freedom. Our Founder, Don Brooks is the son of the original tale gunner of the Liberty Belle and always dreamed of restoring a B-17 in honor of his father and all our WWII veterans. We are losing around 1,500 WWII vets each day. With each death goes another story of courage and valor and these aircraft I hope properly represent those stories of courage and valor.
2. What sort of activities are planned for the 2011 Salute to Veterans tour that will take place in Kansas City May 21 and 22 at the Charles B. Wheeler Airport?
We are on a 50-city national tour. Our weekend in Kansas City will give folks the opportunity to come touch the past and fly through ageless skies. We will offer flights in both the B-17 and P-40 each day. For those that do not wish to fly we will also have the aircraft on the ground and available for ground tours and veterans out to talk about their expertise in the aircraft during WWII.
3. Where did your organization get the World War II B-17 Liberty Belle and the rare Curtiss P-40E Warhawk airplanes that will be featured at the event? What is their significance in World War II?
The B-17 was the work-horse of the 8th Bomb Group in WWII. The B-17 along with the B-24 were the heavy bombers of WWII. The P-40 was our frontline fighter at the beginning of the war and was flown by the famous Flying Tigers. The Liberty Foundation acquired the B-17 13 years after a tornado had its way with it and spent another 13 years and $4.5 million to restore. It is one of only 10 still flying worldwide out of the 12,731 B-17s built for the war. Our P-40 was operated in the Aleutian Islands during WWII and was damaged in a landing accident in 1942. We acquired the remains of the aircraft and spent six years and $1.8 million to restore the P-40 back to flying status and she is now one of eight still flying worldwide.
4. What will the event provide for Leavenworth and Lansing area residents - and especially to the veterans in the area?
It will provide the opportunity to come out and experience a little hands-on history, Our heritage, not in moth-balls or the pages of a dusty book. Meet the veterans who flew these aircraft during the war and experience the sights and sounds of these historic aircraft.
5. What is the most important thing the Liberty Foundation national tour offers for veterans and history buffs?
Most importantly, it allows our veterans to come out and touch the past one more time. It also offers so many families the opportunity to come see what is was that dad and grandpa did during the war.
If not for our veterans we would not be sharing this history today and is simply our way of saying thank you. Freedom is not free.
— Rimsie McConiga
