'Sentimental Journey'B-17 Flying Fortress in Mount Vernon This Weekend
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ The B-17 bomber was a staple of the fighting men of the Greatest Generation during World War II, and next weekend Southern Illinoisans will get a chance to see one of the most fully restored B-17s in existence when it comes to the Mount Vernon Airport on its sentimental journey.
The flight to the Mount Vernon Airport and the aircrafts three-day exhibition Friday, August 15 through Sunday, August 17 is sponsored by the Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force.
The public will get an up-close and personal look at this unique piece of aviation history. The public is invited to tour this airplane-inside and out.
A $5 donation is requested to tour through the plane. There's even the opportunity for some lucky individuals to actually take a flight in Sentimental Journey and experience this rare aircraft first-hand. Flight opportunities on Sentimental Journey are a pricey $425-per person tax-deductible with a minimum of five persons per flight. The flight will average 45 minutes. The money funds the work of the Commemorative Air Force. Minimum age of passengers is 18 years. For more information and to make reservations call 602-448-9415. Only a handful of these rare birds remain in the world today and most of them are on static display in museums.
Sentimental Journey will be displayed and can be toured from 12 noon. to 6 p.m. (or until the crowd thins out), weather permitting on August 15
August 16 and 17, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (or until the crowd thins out), weather permitting.
Sentimental Journey is a flying memorial and museum of the men who flew and crewed these airplanes, as well as the men and women who built them more than 60 years ago during World War II and especially to the crews that did not return. The B-17 Flying Fortress was famous for the daylight bombing raids over Germany during World War II and could sustain such battle damage that the aircraft lived up to its name of the Flying Fortress.
Out of 12,731 built there are only about 10 restored and airworthy examples remaining. For the airplane enthusiast, it's an opportunity to have a museum come to the visitor instead of the traditional other way around.