At first the sound you hear is just a low rumble, somewhere off in the distance. The sound is somewhat familiar yet, incredibly different at the same time. The sound is of an age and era long-since passed, but not without familiarity to those who lived in a time when Hot and Cold Wars were fought around the globe.

As the sound grows louder, slowly increasing in intensity, your ears, followed by your eyes, scan and search the sky for that far-away source, which gains in presence in a Doppler Effect reserved for Freight Trains and Tornadoes. In view, finally, as the source passes suddenly over your head, the sight, the sound, the pulse and the resonance, of four, Pratt & Whitney R-1850 radial engines, raise the hair on the back of your neck, emitting their roar from the slender, almost elliptical wings, the tubular fuselage and twin tail, announcing the return of the one and only, flying, pure, Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber, in the World today.

Moments later a second aircraft, a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, flies overhead. Players at nearby Soccer and Softball fields stop to watch this continuing sight of antiquity moving steadily on a parade through time, suddenly appearing out of no where to the astonishment of a collective, unsuspecting, "all." Even today with the advancements in technology and improvements in aviation these 60 year old aircraft and their thunderous, throaty, radial engines, are still marveled at by those who see them.

At each stop along the Collings Foundation 2006 Tour, the wonder grows, as thousands of local residents are given their opportunity to experience these same, historic aircraft, whether it be in flight, whether they tour the aircraft on the ground, or merely watch the takeoffs and landings.

It is not uncommon to see the veterans of that now distant war seek closure. The 82-year-old veteran, dressed in his 65-year-old, spotless, freshly-pressed khaki uniform and green jacket with a tie neatly tucked between the top and second button of his shirt, slowly walking the length of the Liberator, Flying Fortress, or Mitchell bomber. The faces of his fellow airmen staring out at him from the polished sheen of bare metal; touching the fuselages with his wrinkled hand; touching their faces with his fingertips; tears welling in his eyes as he remembers his many fallen comrades, young men all, some just boys, summoned by the grave at the tender years of 17, 18, 19, 20, 21; never to have aged in life beyond those years.

For some it is an opportunity to experience flight as it was for hundreds of thousands of young airmen, without the flak and enemy fighters; without the machine guns pounding incessantly, despite the shortest of bursts; without the cold-weather suits and oxygen masks, constantly checked and adjusted to prevent an undeclared enemy, frostbite, from causing its deadly harm; without tripping over the seemingly infinite, yet horribly finite boxes of ammunition; nor the explosions raining shards of metal against the fuselage; nor sunlight appearing in the fuselage and wings where sunlight was not designed to be; and most of all, not wanting to endure the fear, the angst, the gut-rendering surrender of one's life before that life had even ended...

For others it is an opportunity to relive all those things for a brief moment; to relive the black bursts of flak and the flickering guns of Focke Wulf, Messerchmidt, Blohm & Voss, and Junkers fighter/bombers, charging head-long against them; that these boys forced into early manhood, these mere children themselves, faced some six decades ago; and all the terrifying returns of the sights and sounds of aerial combat and deadly destruction had to offer; coming together here in the latter day, and experiencing that long gone day as though it were only yesterday. Nostalgia rides filled with far-off memories and a chance to address the need of the Human Heart and the Emotions surrounding Mankind's most simple need: one of closure.

And for those wanting a once in a lifetime experience, they exist for those people, too, so that that the latter might gain the opportunity to allow their dreams to take flight in ways that only these veteran Giants can provide: in the ways of the Old Soldier, before he vanishes forever from all Worldly horizons; before this marvelous, mechanical soldier of flight, vanishes along with the airmen and the Nation they together served, only to be erased for all time from Heaven's memory.

Since 1989 the Collings Foundation has been touring the country with their growing multitude of highly-restored aircraft, equipped to educate others about, and pay tribute to those, the veterans of the Second World War, along with the Korean and Vietnam conflicts that have followed, and any who witnessed the collective dawn and setting sun of the pre- and post-war eras. Stopping at community airports in 130 cities per year, the Collings Foundation's magnificent Warbirds ~ which represent swords turned into plowshares, saluting the Warriors of bygone days, and sewing the seeds for peace, while beckoning an end to future War via the story behind their existence ~ live to give residents the opportunity to experience these historic aircraft and their noble purpose, in the Peacetime these very aircraft helped to create.

Operated by the Collings Foundation B-24L #44-44052, or "Witchcraft" in its current paint scheme, is the last of the 18,000 of the type built that can take to the air. Built by Consolidated aircraft in Wichita Kansas the aircraft was originally sent to the AAC and then transferred to the Royal Air Force.

At the end of the WWII the British abandoned the aircraft in India where it lay abandoned until 1948 when the Indian Air Force restored it to service and flew it for the next 20 years. In 1984 Dr. Robert Collings purchased the aircraft and brought it back to Massachusetts, via Great Britain, where the restoration back to flying status began.

Joining Witchcraft on the annual tours has been the B-17 "Nine-O-Nine." The original "Nine-O-Nine" was assigned to combat on February 25, 1944. By April 1945, she had made eighteen trips to Berlin, dropped 562,000 pounds of bombs, and flown 1,129 hours. After hostilities ceased the original “Nine-O-Nine” was brought back to the United States where it, along with thousands of other proud aircraft, succumbed to the scrappers guillotine.

The Collings Foundation’s B-17 Flying Fortress Serial # 44-83575 was built at Long Beach, CA by the Douglas Aircraft Company and accepted by the Army Air Corps on April 7, 1945. Although the aircraft was built too late to see combat operations the plane did serve as part of the Air/Sea 1st Rescue Squadron and later in the Military Air Transport Service.

In April of 1952, #44-83575 was instrumented and subjected to the effects of three different nuclear explosions. After a thirteen-year "cool down" period, #44-83575 was sold as part of an 800-ton scrap pile and Aircraft Specialties Company began the restoration of the aircraft.

From 1966 to 1986 #44-83575 was known as “Yucca Lady" and served as a fire bomber dropping water and borate on forest fires. In 1986 she was purchased by the Collings Foundation who, along with Tom Reilly Vintage Aircraft, restored the aircraft back to its original wartime configuration.

Added to this year’s tour is a third aircraft, a B-25 Mitchell known as "Tondelayo." Tondelayo, Serial #44-28932, is a J model of the Mitchell and adds an element of speed and performance to the Wings of Freedom Tour.