Fantasy of Flight Bomber Tour?

[Warbird Kid]

As far as collecting all the American types, Mr Weeks seems to have all the major types in various degrees of condition. Ranging from least needed amount of work to most amount of work needed:

B-25
B-26
B-24
B-17
B-29

Now here's my question:

Has Mr. Weeks ever considered or toyed with the idea of a national tour with two to five of these bombers? Of course a large amount of money would be needed to restore half of these aircraft and he would be competing with the Collings Foundation, CAF, etc. I was just wondering if anybody knew if he kicked the idea around?

Chris

[Holedigger]

Toss the PBY and Sunderland in there as well for a better representation of the Marine patrol bombers! It would be fun, expensive, but very fun!

[Holedigger]

Slow but steady! Hurricane Andrew really set him back years and did a LOT of damage. With the new facility, still building out, he has more room for shops, display and storage. Pockets aren't bottomless and his crew has years of work ahead of them just keeping flying what is flying and the slow, methodical rebuilding of several significant airframes at any given time. My hat is off to him and his crew!!

[Michel Lemieux]

He does maintain quite a few birds active every year. And just that comes at a certain cost.

However, he DOES have the chance of choosing from a larger catalog every year.

Just bear in mind that a lot of stuff that was damaged by Andrew will be up and running soon....interesting it will be for sure.

[Rajay]

B-25
B-26
B-24
B-17
B-29

Now here's my question:

Has Mr. Weeks ever considered or toyed with the idea of a national tour with two to five of these bombers? ... I was just wondering if anybody knew if he kicked the idea around?

Chris

Why don't you post a comment on his blog and ask him yourself? Somebody else posted a link to it recently. I think it is:
http://blog.kermitweeks.com/

Also, you said "B-26" above; I assume that you meant the Martin Marauder even though it is less common these days. What about the other one (Douglas A-26/B-26 Invader) - or did you mean it the other way around, that he doesn't have the Martin?

*Some people around here talk about the "A-" series "attack" aircraft as if they weren't bombers, but the A-20 and the A-26 for examples had internal bomb bays and dropped bombs. To me, they're "bombers".

[Warbird Kid]

For me a B-26 is a Marauder, and a A-26 is an Invader. Its just so much easier, even though I know its swapped over. Even still, you could throw a A-20 and A-26 in there for good measure. If you add those, then you might as well put in a Harpoon and PBY!

Harpoon
PBY
A-20
A-26
B-25
B-26
B-24
B-17
B-29

Now were in the realm of next to impossible!

[Holedigger]

I seem to recall he has a Mosquito stashed away as well, granted, they saw very limited use in the USAAF, if you are dreaming, might as well dream big! Throw in his Lanc for the Canadians and you have quite a traveling circus!

[N3Njeff]

Dont forget the B-23 that he has also.

[Rajay]

Even still, you could throw a A-20 and A-26 in there for good measure. If you add those, then you might as well put in a Harpoon and PBY!

Sounds good to me. How about other American airplanes that seemed to be used almost exclusively by "allies"?

Martin's Mayland & Baltimore and the Lockheed Hudson

[Warbird Kid]

You guys are making my head hurt! Now were talking about a flyable roaming circus of WWII bombers. If only Mr. Weeks wished to be the ringmaster!

[Bear]

I seem to recall he has a Mosquito stashed away as well, granted, they saw very limited use in the USAAF, if you are dreaming, might as well dream big! Throw in his Lanc for the Canadians and you have quite a traveling circus!

Yes he does, it's at the EAA Museum in Oshkosh, WI.

[N3Njeff]

What is the update on "whistlers mother"???? Should be really close to returning to fla?

[RMAllnutt]

You may as well include the Avro Lancaster in there for good measure, even though it will need a complete restoration. He has at least two B-17's, and several B-29 projects as well (so multiple examples of each are feasible, given time and cash).

Cheers,
Richard

[kmiles]

The biggest problem with the large aircraft tour (just to cover both the attack and bomber aircraft) is ramp space. With the just the B-17, B-24, and B-25 you would be suprised at how many airports/FBO's were not interested in hosting a stop. If you threw a B-29 in the mix, you would be really limited on which airports/FBO's would be willing to host a stop. The airports/FBO's still have their daily activity to contend with, so adding several large bombers to the ramp can really clog things up. This would happen most at airports that are in area's of high concentrations of people where GA activity tends to be high. That is the same area where a large aircraft tour would need to be in order to get enough attendance to pay for all of the gas. It would be neat to see all of those aircraft flying in one place, but I think it would be limited to large scale events like air shows, not a daily tour.

[Ryan Keough]

Aside from the cost of getting said bombers in flying order, there are quite a few other concerns that would make operations difficult... here are some to consider:

1) As far as I know, Fantasy of Flight isn't a 501c3... and to offer rides on the bomber types to make it financially sustainable, the 501c3 needs to be developed and all aircraft would need to be placed under an exemption letter... which outlines the standards of maintenance and pilot training / qualification.

2) Management of said pilot program and volunteer program isn't something that just happens... CF took a while to become the well-oiled machine it has evolved into. There are several dozen pilots "in the pool" for groups like EAA and CF just to fill slots 1-2 weeks at a time.

3) Finding local "allies" to volunteer host the stops is an evolution too. Back in the 90's when CF was starting, most stops were adopted and hosted by veterans or connections within Bomb Group associations... but now, there only a few veterans who are still able to do it... all the others "passed the reigns" to younger folks who have been developing the contacts for rooms, cars, FBOs and Media for years. With some exceptions, most first year / first time volunteer stops aren't usually that great... so a tour of first-timers would be tough.

4) I think that, between CF, EAA, Liberty, CAF-AZ and CAF-B-24 as well as the B-25 regional tours, the market is pretty crowded already. Though the more unique types that don't have rides available in the current market may add to the mix, I don't think A-26 / B-26 rides would be feasable for the cost of insurance. The A-20 and Mosquito would be nearly impossible to work a ride program with... just not enough room.

5) In most of the cases with the bombers that are in the collection, the cost of getting them to flying status alone would be pretty intense... with the investment that Mr. Weeks is putting into the FoF property, would it be a sound decision for him to get these key planes in flying shape, then have them leave the facility for a long time each year? My thought is that if he gets any of them flying, then he'll fly them from FoF and keep the "stars" there to entice people to visit and gather gate admission... then if the ride program develops, then he can add that as a source of revenue without the costly preparation for a "road show."

That's my .02 though...