Flight Experiences and Tours will be available!

What is a Flight Experience?
A Flight Experience on the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator, or B-25 Mitchell is a 30 minute (start-up to shut-down) experience in flight aboard the aircraft at one of our 125+ locations we stop at per year. - a 30 minute Flight Experience in the B-17 or B-24 will be $425.00, and a 30 minute Flight Experience in the B-25 will be $400.00 for forward fuselage (nose, cockpit, top turret area) passengers or $325.00 for a rear fuselage (waist gun or tail gun) passenger.

What is the cost?
Each 30-minute Flight Experience requires a $425.00 tax-deductable donation per person (for B-17 & B-24). B-25 flights are a $400.00 tax-deductible donation per person for seats in the forward fuselage and $325.00 donation for seats in the rear fuselage. The Collings Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit educational foundation.

How many people can the planes hold?
A flight must have a minimum of 6 riders to be dispatched and a maximum of 8 riders on any flight on the B-24 and 9 maximum on the B-17. The B-25 must have a minimum of 4 riders and a maximum of 6 riders. A flight cannot be confirmed until the minimum amount of riders is reached.

What is the sequence for each flight?
Arrival: Please arrive one hour prior to your scheduled flight time to get acquainted with the aircraft and crew. You will be asked to fill out a form and pay at this time as well.
Preflight: Your flight engineer for the flight will discuss aircraft safety with you and the other riders beside the aircraft 20 min prior to engine start. All seating and flight procedures will be discussed at that time. You will then be taken aboard the aircraft and seat belted for takeoff. All passengers must be seated and secured for engine start, taxi, and takeoff.
In Flight: Once the aircraft is airborne, you will be allowed to walk about the aircraft as you like. Take this time to visit the various compartments of the aircraft like the nose, cockpit, waist, and tail sections. Explore as much as you like and feel free to take pictures and video. You will be allowed into the cockpit section during the flight to observe the pilots, but will not be allowed to sit at the controls or interfere with the pilots during the flight.
Landing: A signal will be given to secure yourself for landing. All passengers must be seated and secure for landing, taxi, and engine shutdown. The flight engineer will help you exit the aircraft after shutdown and securing the aircraft.

What should I bring or wear?
Please try not to bring baggage of any type onboard as space is tight. Cameras and camcorders are allowed. Smaller snapshot cameras tend to work best as the tight spaces may be difficult for larger 35 mm cameras and equipment. We are sorry, but the Collings Foundation is not responsible for the loss or damage of items such as cameras in flight. You may consider bringing foam ear plugs for hearing protection as the flight is quite noisy. The aircraft can be drafty at times, so you may consider bringing a light jacket or sweatshirt for the flight.

Please remember:
Each flight experience donation is fully tax deductible. Every donation helps to defray maintenance and operations costs for the aircraft that have reached over $4000 per operating hour per aircraft. Maintained to the highest standards and flown by highly experienced pilots, our aircraft safety standards are second to none.

Background on The Collings Foundation
The Collings Foundation is a non-profit, Educational Foundation (501-C3), founded in 1979. The purpose of the Foundation is to organize and support "living history" events that enable Americans to learn more about their heritage through direct participation. The original focus of the Foundation was transportation-related events such as antique car rallies, hill climbs, carriage and sleigh rides, along with a winter ice-cutting festival. During the mid-eighties, these activities were broadened to include aviation-related events such as air shows, barnstorming, historical reunions, and joint museum displays.

Since 1989, a major focus of the Foundation has been the Veterans' "Wings of Freedom Tour." This tour showcases a fully restored WWII Consolidated B-24J Liberator, originally named "All American" in tribute to a B-24J that flew with the 15th Air Force. In 2005, it was re-painted as "Witchcraft" to honor our European Theater veterans in the 8th Air Force. The tour also features the Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress "Nine-O-Nine", the companion of the B-24 in thousands of wartime, bombing, and reconnaissance missions. The "Wings of Freedom Tour" has two goals: to honor our veterans--recognizing their sacrifices so we may enjoy our freedom; and to educate the visitors, especially younger Americans, about our national history and heritage. The Foundation encourages people to tour the planes, talk to the veterans who come to visit the aircraft, and participate in a "flight experience". In fifteen years, the tour has made more than 1800 stops at cities and towns across the lower United States and Alaska. While the exact number of visitors welcomed each year is difficult to gauge, it is estimated that between 3 and 4 million people see these warbirds annually.

Over the past twenty years the Foundation has undertaken and completed restoration projects on par or in greater quantity than many of the major aviation museums in the United States such as the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum (NASM) or the United States Air Force Museum. The importance of volunteers who support the Foundation's efforts by hosting the aircraft in their towns, maintaining and restoring the planes, educating the American public about the heritage the planes represent, and financially supporting the Foundation's efforts is invaluable. The Foundation's efforts have caught the attention of people of all ages and backgrounds (the youngest volunteer started at age 12). The Foundation also relies upon the volunteer services of a number of pilots, many of whom work for major US-based airlines, who have been certified in the operation of our aircraft.

The Foundation depends solely upon private funding--receiving donations from individual members, as well as the people who visit the aircraft in each city and town. In addition, the Foundation receives on-going corporate support from: Aviation Propeller, Bose Corporation, Champion Spark Plug, Buick, Goodyear, Martin-Baker, Pacific Oil Cooler, Texstars, Gentex, and Houston Aircraft Instruments. Tax-deductible donations may be sent to the Collings Foundation, Box 248, Stow, MA 01775 and earmarked for any of the above-mentioned aircraft or for the general fund. If there are any questions you'd like answered, please call us at 978-568-8924 or email at info@collingsfoundation.org.

For More Information:
The Collings Foundation
P.O. Box 248 
Stow, MA 01775
Tel: 978.562.9182
Fax: 978.568.8231
Email: info@collingsfoundation.org
Website: www.collingsfoundation.org