PIA Students Explore and Meet History
Dedicated to preserving history through storytelling, the Collings Foundation hopes that the "Wings of Freedom Tour" will attract WWII Veterans who will share their experiences with new generations of Americans. A sort of 'traveling museum', the Tour travels across the country with their three WWII originals, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Nine-O-Nine, Consolidated B-24J Liberator Witchcraft, and North American P-51 Mustang Betty Jane. This week, the "Wings of Freedom Tour" has flown right into our very own Allegheny County Airport. The Tour gave PIA students and staff a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to climb aboard and check out three of the country's WWII heroes. The Collings Foundation has been devoting time and money to the restoration of these aircraft, as well as the dream of keeping them in the air, for over 20 years!
Students also had the opportunity to talk with some of the pilots and mechanics who have built their career around this fleet of traveling history. After talking with a mechanic, one may realize that Witchcraft and Betty Jane operate on radial engines, and the only way to learn these engines is to get hands-on experience in the classroom and in the field. Having the Tour "right in our backyard" has certainly been a great experience for our students!
While there are certainly great stories about the histories of both Nine-O-Nine and Betty Jane, the restoration efforts of Witchcraft have a special meaning to the Foundation, as well as countless WWII Veterans. With hard work, dedication, and the help of determined WWII Veteran James Althoff, the dream of getting the B-24 Liberator back in the air was achieved. Inspired by Althoff's dream of seeing Witchcraft in the air, many other veterans and the Collings Foundation contributed more than five years, and over 97,000 hours of volunteer work, to restore this B-24 to her original, war-time, condition. The time and hard work that was put into the restoration of this aircraft is a true illustration of the commitment to the preservation of history which is upheld by the Collings Foundation.
Article by Kylee Bennett/ Photograph by Mikki Monaghan
