Historic B-17 Flights
by Sam Griswold
CBS 42 News
2008-05-11 15:24:42.0
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"Did you guys have fun?... I was watching you go round and round."
Drew and Natalie Harp's mother greeted them after they made the exciting flight in the historic aircraft.
For Drew? "(What was that like flying in the plane?) It was kind of Scary to me." And it wasn't much different for Natalie: "It was bumpy... I went like this (motions up and down with hand)."
The kids made the flight with their dad and grandmother - who's own father was a bombardier in World War II.
"To be able to sit in the same area that my dad used to be in... He was the bombardier back during the war, and just to be able to sit in that seat and to be where he was, was just, just a dream come true," says Jeanne Harp.
The Liberty Foundation is the non-profit organization that brings the Liberty Belle to the lucky dozens who get to ride it and the hundreds who tour the insides of this historical piece of machinery.
"We take the aircraft to a different city each weekend; we go to honor those veterans that, that flew during World War II... those men that made such terrible sacrifices to keep us free so that we have the freedom that we have enjoyed," says Ron Gause, a pilot with the Liberty Foundation.
Proud of a father who served, Jeanne Harp is thankful for the opportunity - especially on Mother's Day.
"This just kind of came up all of the sudden, but it's the best Mother's Day present I think I've had in a long, long, time."
It took the Liberty Foundation more than 14 years and 3 1/2 million dollars to restore the B-17 bomber. The Liberty Belle is on its way to Atlanta for another show next weekend.
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