The aircraft that helped win WW II
Along with the restored vintage planes, including a P-51 Mustang, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, and the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, which are some of the last of their kind, veterans were on hand to tell their tales from cockpits and behind the guns that filled the skies during WWII.
The National Wings of Freedom Tour will be at Moffett Feld in Mountain View through May 28, with tours of the planes open to the public.
National Wings of Freedom Tour
Nose section of P-51
Shiny P-51
P-51s colorful tail
Restored P-51 Mustang
Customs agents watch planes land
B-24
Built in 1944, the B-24 was the shining star of WWII and was the United States' most-produced American military aircraft, with more than 18,000 of the planes built.
WWII veteran Tom Boyd
On December 20, 1944, his 19th birthday, Boyd's B-24 was badly damaged, and he and his crew were forced to bail out 22,000 feet over what was then Yugoslavia. It was just his second mission in the war, and, Boyd says, he and his crew walked for 21 days, sleeping during the day and moving quietly across German enemy lines at night.