There's a B25 in Penticton !!!!!

It's actually cheaper than a lot of MILSURPS nowadays. I used to see B-25s being flown by the RCAF reserves from Saskatoon in the late 1950s and always wondered what it would be like to fly in one. My WW2 Halifax rear gunner pal, age 90, was there as well. I tried to talk him into joining me, but he already had 32 "freebies" over Europe during the war, in addition to many training flights, so didn't feel the same urge. Besides, he said he needed to save for his old age. He and his wife are both ex-pilots, so were happy to have their picture taken beside the aircraft and to swap a few stories with the crew.
 
purple said:
There sure is. I went over for a look this afternoon and felt compelled to book a ride in it on Wednesday morning. :dancingbanana:
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Is there any information available online in regards to booking a ride on the B25? Google only gives me news articles
 
CanadianAR said:
Nice purple!!

I feel $650 is a price I'd gladly pay to ride in a ww2 bomber. Once in a lifetime for most of us.
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Costs range from $395 to $650US (for a flight deck seat)!!!!!!

AND IT WAS 20 MINUTES FROM ME.

Now I'm sad. I flew for half an hour in a T6 Texan. It still makes me smile. So do the 4 B17s I've walked through on static display, and the one DC3 I've jumped out of. That one still had the oval door.

A B-25 would have been so worth that coin.
 
purple said:
It's actually cheaper than a lot of MILSURPS nowadays. I used to see B-25s being flown by the RCAF reserves from Saskatoon in the late 1950s and always wondered what it would be like to fly in one. My WW2 Halifax rear gunner pal, age 90, was there as well. I tried to talk him into joining me, but he already had 32 "freebies" over Europe during the war, in addition to many training flights, so didn't feel the same urge. Besides, he said he needed to save for his old age. He and his wife are both ex-pilots, so were happy to have their picture taken beside the aircraft and to swap a few stories with the crew.
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I too watched and admired those B-25s flying around Saskatoon in the '50s as our farm where I was raised was 2.5 miles SW of the Saskatoon Airport.
Also there were several Expeditors as well as the Mitchells doing circuits most days..
 
I baulked at the $650 20 minute ride when it was in Airdrie just recently. Would love to go for a ride, but too rich for my blood.
 
Besides, he said he needed to save for his old age.

Now that is priceless! Some of those guys have an uncrushable spirit! One of my old heroes was a WW2 Navy man. He is now terribly skinny and slow. They have taken his driver's licence. No problem. I see him downtown cruising in his little golf cart. I make sure I shake his hand every time I am anywhere near him. Tough old guy.
 
shredder said:
Where da pitchers at????

:needPics:
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b-25_takeoff_zps6f607461.jpg
 
kjohn said:
Besides, he said he needed to save for his old age.

Now that is priceless! Some of those guys have an uncrushable spirit! One of my old heroes was a WW2 Navy man. He is now terribly skinny and slow. They have taken his driver's licence. No problem. I see him downtown cruising in his little golf cart. I make sure I shake his hand every time I am anywhere near him. Tough old guy.
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Every time we meet I ask him if he is still buying green bananas and he always says yes. A couple of years ago I got his story in detail for a book that we are working on containing first hand accounts from WW2 veterans living in the South Okanagan. He survived 32 missions as a rear gunner in a Halifax and was wounded in the process. It's a small world. It turned out that his best pal and the navigator on his crew was a man who grew up on the homestead next to ours in SK and who I knew well as a kid.
 
My son stopped in Penticton today on the way home from Osoyoos. Booked front seats for both of us on Friday, $1,300.00 and he is a generous kid as he is paying.

Excited and he feels it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. When he was 8 years old we both had a ride in a P51D (Miss America) the Reno Air Racer. Joann Osterud was the pilot.
 
I took my ride this morning and, as we used to say, it was "swell". There is a lot of power and noise in those Wright Cyclone engines with 1700 hp each. I took along my ear defenders which was a smart move as the engine noise is deafening. The weather was clear and sunny and it was a nice tour of the Okanagan valley up around Summerland, over Penticton and the lakes and south to Kaleden. Got to ride in the tail gunner's seat for a spell which offered outstanding visibility. A smooth takeoff after revving up the engines to max RPM, a great tour around with some nice turns and banks followed by an equally smooth landing. Time and money well spent for a unique experience and I finally found out how it felt after watching the air reserves tool around in their Mitchells more than 55 yrs ago!
 
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