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WWII pilots, raise your hands They're needed to tell about visiting bombers By PAUL FATTIG Talent resident Norm Mainwaring is looking for old comrades-at-arms who logged time in warbirds during World War II. Any crew member, from pilot to tail gunner, of a B-17 Flying Fortress or a B-24 Liberator is asked to step forward. "I'd love to get a pilot or a member of an air crew to participate," said Mainwaring, a WWII veteran who flew both aircraft. "But anyone who was associated with them or knows about them would be fine." The veterans are being asked to be on hand to talk to the public about the two vintage World War II bombers scheduled to land at the Medford airport Saturday, June 5. The three-day visit is part of the nonprofit Collings Foundation's historical flying tours. The two aircraft were here two years ago. The two planes will be on display at the Jet Flight center from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on June 5, 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 6, and from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, June 7. Mainwaring, who is organizing the local visit, can be reached at 535-4966. A donation will be requested for the on-ground tours, but the amount has not yet been set. The foundation also allows those who offer a sizable donation a ride on the rare aircraft, he said. The B-24 is the only one of its kind still flying, while there are fewer than 100 B-17s that can still leave the bounds of earth, Mainwaring said. "You just don't see airplanes like this anymore," he said. The mission of the foundation is to educate the public about World War II aircraft as well as to pay tribute to those who flew them, according to Bob Collings, founder of the foundation. A retired oil company employee, Mainwaring, 76, was an Army Air Corps pilot who flew both Liberators and Flying Fortresses. "I flew a B-24 as a co-pilot over to Africa which was later damaged on the ground," he said. "That was the luckiest thing that could have happened to me. I got to fly B-17s then." He flew 51 missions, including the last one to Russia. "I really have an affinity for these two airplanes," he said, noting that the B-17 was a particularly durable aircraft. Seeing the aircraft will take him back in time, he said. "When you were flying a bomber in formation you had no reference points," he said. "The other planes would be so close. You'd be slowly jostling back and forth. "Then you ran into flak or a fighter would come zipping past," he added. "Then it got real exciting." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA