
If you’re an aviation or military history buff, you’ll want to swing by the Regina Flying Club this weekend to see a WWII era medium-range B-25 bomber that will be in town. The bomber is part of an historic aircraft collection housed in Minnesota.
If you visit the Minnesota Commemorative Air Force website, you’ll see that the B-25 played an important role in WWII tied to what’s known as the Doolittle Raid on April 18, 1942. The raid came a little over four months after Pearl Harbour, and targeted Tokyo and other locations on Honshu Island.
Sixteen bombers were involved, and after taking off from the USS Hornet aircraft carrier (photo above) and attacking their targets, the plan called for them to land in China which was then under Japanese occupation. All the aircraft were subsequently lost, resulting in the death and capture of around 10 airmen, although 14 of the crews were able to escape and safely return to American bases.
While the raid had little military impact on Japan, it had significant symbolic value, both as retaliation for Pearl Harbour, and as a demonstration of Japan’s vulnerability to American counterattack.
The B-25 bomber will be at the Regina Flying Club on Saturday Aug. 15 and Sunday Aug. 16 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tours of the aircraft will be offered, and a demonstration flight is planned over Regina for Saturday afternoon.
I spoke to someone at the club. The limited seats will be a $500 & up. If I had it.. I’d do it .
Hopefully ,a PD staffer will get on, and video the ride…
1nce in a lifetime .
That plane has drivin over Regina 20 times this weekend !
flown over
Over my house over and over and over and over. Brad Wall, Mike Fougere, Pap Fiacco, Crown Corp CEOs, maybe even Stephen Harper, the odd labourer spending his paycheque trying to impress someone, likely passengers aboard.
@Talbot Fresh Jr. The passengers are regular folks whose dads, uncles or grandfathers put their lives on the line in the RCAF, and some of them didn’t come back.
This airplane lets them connect with that history like nothing else can. They’re very different people from you.