WARBIRDS
Try flying in these vintage combat aircraft

by James C. Allen

In a quiet corner of the Hampton Roads Executive Airport in Suffolk, the pea-green Lockheed "Lady" C60A Lodestar of the Old Dominion squadron of the Commemorative Air Force sits quietly waiting for her next mission. Her dual, nine-cylinder radial engines drip oil as they have for nearly 60 years, though they no longer shuttle paratroopers behind enemy lines or help to patrol the U.S. shores looking for German U-boats.

These days, the Lady Lodestar is a living piece of history. "We are a true flying museum," says Col. Ed Lucas, squadron leader of the Chesapeake-based Old Dominion squadron of the CAF. "When we go to an air show, people can walk up and touch it and feel the hot oil, just like they could have back during WWII."

Giving people that experience while preserving the aviation history of World War II is what the Commemorative Air Force is all about, says Lucas. Whether it is a ride in the Lodestar's co-pilot seat or in the rear gun turret of a B-17, the Midland, Texas-based CAF has spent more than 40 years keeping the thrill of these planes alive.

Like the other CAF squadrons, the two Virginia-based squadrons give shelter and maintenance to a handful of CAF planes. Besides the Lady Lodestar, the Old Dominion squadron also keeps an L-5, the military version of a Piper Cub trainer. The Manassas-based National Capitol squadron maintains an L-5 and SR-13 trainer.

Bill Douglas, the National Capitol squadron leader, says people looking for some regular seat-of-the-pants excitement should consider joining one of the CAF squadrons. "One of the advantages you get as a member [of the CAF] is that when there is space, you get to fly at the cost of your membership," he says. That is pretty often, he added, noting that at the group's monthly meetings pilots let everyone know when they are taking the planes up for a check run so that interested members can join them.

There are two levels of membership. The cheapest is a friend of the squadron, which costs just $35, but does not come with flying privileges. The free flight time comes with paying a $200 tax-deductible annual membership fee. Besides flight liberties, full members immediately become commissioned colonels in the CAF, as well, putting them on equal rank with all other CAF members.

Members with pilot licenses can take things even further, Douglas says. By paying a one-time sponsorship fee, pilots can fly the planes on a regular basis, including monthly check runs. Sponsorships do not come cheaply, however. It costs $1,500 for the L-5s and $3,500 for either the National Capitol's BT-13 or the Old Dominion's Lodestar.
Still, it is a unique alternative to maintaining or renting a ommonplace Cessna 152. "For some guys, rather than owning their own plane, they pay the sponsorship on the CAF plane and get their flying time in a World War II aircraft," Douglas says. "A couple of guys are airline pilots who just do it for the love of flying the old iron."

Those with more modest expectations might consider the CAF's ride programs. Given space availability, rides on the planes go for anywhere from $75 for a 20- to 30-minute ride in an L-5, to $150 for a chauffeured trip in either the BT-13 or the Lodestar. (The Old Dominion squadron expects to receive approval from the CAF headquarters to provide rides to paying customers by early spring.) A trip in the Arizona squadron's B-17 at the National Capitol's air show in Manassas July 9-17 runs as much as $350 per person for as many as five paying passengers. Rides can be good gift ideas as well. "An exciting bonus for some outstanding employees might be that their company gives three to five of them a ride in a B-17," Douglas says.

Regardless of whether it is a ride as a member, as a paying customer or as a full-fledged pilot, Lucas said the planes provide the kind of thrills and romance that is hard to replicate in today's aircraft. "A lot of people ride with us because it's an experience," says Col. Ed Lucas of the Old Dominion squadron. "You really get a feel of what the paratroopers must have felt as they flew in this plane."

Return to Virginia Business -April 2002