DuPage Airport To Host Vintage World War II Aircraft

Jul. 5—The DuPage Airport in West Chicago will host the Airpower History Tour featuring vintage World War II aircraft later this month.

The Commemorative Air Force is bringing its tour to DuPage Airport from July 19 through 23. The exhibit will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day there.

The exhibit features a B-29 Superfortress, also known as Fifi, and a B-24 Liberator, known as Diamond Lil. When they land at the DuPage Airport, they will be accompanied by a T-6 Texan, a PT-13 Stearman and a RC-45J Expeditor.

The event is coming to airports across North America. Visitors will be able to view all aircraft up close, purchase rides, and tour the B-29 and B-24 cockpits when the aircraft are not flying, organizers said.

Supporting aircraft will be offering rides each day. The B-29 will fly on Saturday and Sunday during the event at 9 and 10:30 a.m. The B-24 will fly on Saturday and Sunday at 9:30 and 11 a.m.

Cockpit tours of the B-29 and B-24 will be available each day beginning at 9 a.m., and on Saturday and Sunday when the aircraft are done flying, according to organizers.

The aircraft will be staged at the DuPage Flight Center FBO ramp at DuPage Airport, 2700 International Drive, West Chicago.

Access to the ramp is $20 for adults, $10 for youths age 11 through 17, and free for children age 10 and under. Rides may be booked in advance at AirPowerTour.org where additional information about the event may also be found.

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the largest and most technically advanced aircraft of its time, was first flown in 1942, event organizers said. It began active service in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1944, and is best known as the aircraft whose missions over Japan helped bring an end to World War II.

The B-29 also was used in the Korean War in the early 1950s and was a staple of the U.S. Air Force until 1960. One of only two B-29′s in the world still flying, Fifi was acquired by the Commemorative Air Force in 1971. It began touring in 1974 and has been entertaining air show audiences across the country ever since.

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was the most produced American warplane of World War II with over 18,400 aircraft rolling off assembly lines across the country, event organizers said. Most were manufactured at Ford's Willow Run assembly plant in Detroit. Diamond Lil is one of the first B-24′s produced and still one of only two B-24′s in the world still flying.

Through more than six decades of collecting and flying World War II aircraft, the Commemorative Air Force has become the world's largest flying museum. Its fleet of over 170 World War II airplanes are assigned to unit locations across the U.S. and are supported by 12,000 volunteer members, event organizers said.

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