Wings of Freedom Tour 2013
Each year in the Spring, the Collings Foundation take their Wings of Freedom Tour through Florida with their Boeing B–17 Fortress, Consolidated B–24 Liberator and two-seater North American TP–51C Mustang fighter. Their North American B–25 Mitchell also joins the tour at selected venues.
They fly into a number of regional airports and at most venues you can take a ‘walk through’ tour of one of the bombers for $12 for adults and $6 for children.
You can also get some idea of what it was like to fly in these amazing aircraft on a 30 minute ‘air experience’ flight. Prices range from $325 to $400 for the B–25 and $425 for the B–17 and B–24.
A minimum of six passengers is required for each flight (four for the B–25) and it is recommended you wear foam ear-plugs as inside the aircraft can be very noisy! It can also be quite draughty so a sweatshirt is also useful.
For the TP–51C, prices range from $2,200 to $3,200 for a half hour or one hour flight respectively.
Consolidated B-24 Liberator ©2012 The Collings Foundation. All Rights Reserved.Wings of Freedom 2013 Tour Schedule (Florida Locations)
For the 2013 tour, the B–17, B–24 and TP–51C will take part in the Florida portion of the tour.
Provisional tour schedule/locations for 2013 are:
| Dates | Location |
|---|---|
| January 18 to 20, 2013 | Sebring Regional Airport |
| January 21 to 23, 2013 | Zephyrhills [Main Terminal Building] |
| January 23 to 25, 2013 | Sarasota/Brandenton International Airport [Retrix] |
| January 25 to 27, 2013 | Venice Municipal Airport [Sun Coast Air Center] |
| January 28 to 30, 2013 | Page Field Airport [West Ramp] |
| January 30 to February 1, 2013 | The Florida Keys Marathon Airport [Antique Aircraft] |
| February 1 to 4, 2013 | Boca Raton Airport [Signature Flight Support] |
| February 4 to 8, 2013 | Pompano Beach Airpark [SheltAir Aviation] |
| February 8 to 10, 2013 | Fort Lauderdale Executive [Hangar 63] |
| February 11 to 13, 2013 | Witham Field, Stuart [Galaxy Aviation] |
| February 13 to 15, 2013 | Vero Beach Municipal Airport [Sun Aviation] |
| February 15 to 17, 2013 | Melbourne International [Atlantic Jet Center] |
| February 18 to 28, 2013 | Maintenance Break |
| March 1 to 3, 2013 | Leesburg International Airport [General Aviation Ramp] |
| March 4 to 6, 2013 | Tallahassee Regional Airport [Million Air Tallahassee] |
| March 6 to 8, 2013 | Fort Walton Beach Airport [Destin Jet] |
| March 8 to 10, 2013 | Pensacola International Airport [Pensacola Aviation Center] |
The aircraft then continue their tour into other Southern states.
History of the Collings Foundation
The Collings Foundation is a non-profit, Educational Foundation (501c–3) and was founded in 1979.
It provides “living history” events to allow visitors to learn more about their heritage and in recent times has focussed more on the Second World War, Korean War and the Vietnam War and in particular on aircraft of those eras.
In total the Collings Foundation has around 20 aircraft in flying condition and some of them take part in the Wings of Freedom Tour.
Though the Collings Foundation is based in Stow, Massachusetts, quite a few of the collection spend time at their maintenance facilities at New Smyrna Beach, Florida.