Third, when we talk about loving or honoring someone, we talk about ‘lifting them up.’ There’s no better way to honor ‘blue’ than to ask our friends at Doc to lift up 11 of our officers inside the aircraft that literally won the war for the US exactly 75 years ago. These officers have earned some time where they can put the craziness aside. Second, as a pilot, I know when you are in the air, you can leave behind-if only for 30 minutes-the craziness that exists 3,000 or 35,000 feet below. “Why the Doc B-29 experience? Well, first, with only two operating B-29s left, there are very few who can experience this flight, which makes it so special, and special people deserve special experiences. We wanted to let them know there are people out here…who know what they do and truly value them. “So, Elizabeth and I wanted to do something to show our respect, our admiration and our undying gratitude for the men and women who wear the badge every day, for us. These men and women in blue and their families, across the country, sacrifice a great deal every day so the rest of us can feel safe in our homes and on the streets. I’ve seen firsthand what they do and how they do it, and I have tremendous respect and admiration for who they are. “Martha, I come from a family of Chicago police officers and firemen-uncles, cousins, you name it. It costs $3,600 an hour to operate this magnificent and rare warbird here’s David’s reply when I asked him about this incredibly generous gift: When Doc was scheduled to come through Cincinnati, on the way to the Arsenal of Democracy flight in Washington, D.C., David Wiser and his wife, Elizabeth, bought all the seats on two flights. Read More from Martha Lunken: Unusual Attitudes These, I learned, were all Cincinnati police officers.
![b29 enola gay today b29 enola gay today](https://www.johnweeks.com/b29/pics/b29udvarhazy.jpg)
Incredibly, they learned they had attended the same grade school and found a photo of themselves in the same third grade class-but segregated.Īfter the glorious 30-minute flight, we landed and taxied to the ramp where another group of 11 was waiting to board for the second flight.
![b29 enola gay today b29 enola gay today](https://airandspace.si.edu/sites/default/files/images/exhibitions/hero-images/95-4625h.jpg)
![b29 enola gay today b29 enola gay today](https://live.staticflickr.com/2568/4143008172_ab5990131a_b.jpg)
They became friends and, comparing logbooks, found that John Leahr, had indeed accompanied Herb on at least two missions. Herb’s WWII bomber missions were accompanied by a P-51 squadron of Tuskegee Airmen, and famously, he met one of these “Red Tail” squadron pilots at a 1997 reunion in Cincinnati. Herb piloted 35 B-17 combat missions with the 15th Air Force in Foggia, Italy, and the Cincinnati Warbirds have celebrated their honorary member by sending his US flag aloft with its special logbook showing time in everything from a B-17 to the F-22 Raptor and now the B-29. We had another “virtual passenger” on board-Cincinnatian Herb Heilbrun, who would soon celebrate his 100th birthday. A flag flies on board in honor of virtual passenger Herb Heilbrun’s 100th birthday. I “took out” a dam on the Ohio River while thinking of the 1945 bombardier, sitting in that seat and peering through that bombsight.
#B29 ENOLA GAY TODAY FULL#
I can’t begin to describe the thrill of flying in Doc-the sound of those Wright 3350s (I removed my headset on takeoff to get the full impact of that glorious roar), the view from that bombardier’s seat in the nose, and the chill of peering through the Norden bombsight with my finger on the bomb release button.