Commemorative Air Force takes to the skies with vintage aircraft May 25 at Hooks Airport

GREATER HOUSTON, Texas -- The wild blue yonder will be filled with the sight and sounds of vintage aircraft this Memorial Day weekend, on May 25, when the Commemorative Air Force - Gulf Coast Wing takes to the sky over David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport at 20803 Stuebner Airline Drive.

Included among the World War II era planes will be the B-17 Flying Fortress, “Texas Raiders,” one of only nine fully operational B-17s still flying, will have tours and special flights available, starting at 10:00 a.m. For more information about the B-17, contact the email address provided.

“The ‘Texas Raiders’ is more than a flying museum, it’s a memorial to the plane and crew of the “Princess Pat,” said Wayne Kennedy, Retired M/Sgt USAF, and Chief Executive Officer of the CAF’s Gulf Coast Wing, in a previous interview.

“The “Texas Raiders” was manufactured by McDonnell Douglas in 1945, and was one of their last 20 produced,” said Kennedy. “She was originally issued to the Army Air Corps, but never flew in combat missions. She was commissioned to the U.S. Navy, repainted in naval colors, and stationed in Atsugi, Japan. It was the first B-17 configured for Airborne Warning and Control (AWAC); retrofitted with a radar dome underneath the fuselage. She was used for submarine patrol, and served throughout the Korean War. When decommissioned in 1953, she was used for area mapping. Most of the photomapping of North and South America was done by this plane,” added Kennedy.

A ‘pop-up’ commissary will provide refreshments and Commemorative Air Force souvenirs, all of which help to provide the preventative maintenance on the vintage aircraft.

Among the faces in the crowd will be a General George S. Patton impersonator, Denny Hair, a interactive historian who has been entertaining the troops and crowds for over twenty years. Come see Hair’s remarkable presentation and learn more about the legend who contributed significantly to the Allied invasion, leaving a lasting legacy.

To read more about the Texas Raiders read Nowhere but The Woodlands blog titled Up we go into the wild blue yonder.