My Trophy Flight Aboard the B-24 Liberator
This is part three of my vintage bike show post where I took first place in the custom class and flew in the B-24 Liberator. I say “the” because this is the only restored flying B-24 Liberator in the world.
Boarding the flight with me were eight other passengers that donated $450.00 to the Collins Foundation for this 30min flight over the Front Range of Colorado. One gentleman was a WWII veteran pilot of the B-24. I didn’t get any info out of him other than he wanted to sit up in the flight deck on take-off and landing. Pre-flight instruction was simple, five people to the rear and three to the front. Strap in where you find the lap belts, once airborne we could move about the entire aircraft at will. The only warning was to stay on the catwalk over the bomb-bay doors, for the doors cannot support any weight and we had no chutes.
Once we warmed up and hit the runway we were airborne in no time. I was seated in the back below the rear side-gunners position and un-belted as soon as I felt the wheels leave the runway. I hung out here sitting on the sill on the gunners’ window in amazement of the power of this machine.
The wind and the sound of the Four 1200 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-65 Engines in flight took me back 
about five years ago when I did a walk through with a friend of mine who flew with the 15th Army Air Corps, 450th Bomb Group. As we went through the B-24 Liberator on that day, my friend Ralph Poffinberger re-lived his 44 mission and last flight with me like it happened yesterday. As I flew on this day I know Ralph and his crew was up there with us. I will share Ralph’s last flight with you in my next post.
I made my way to the tail-gunners position for a few pic’s and to check the gun sites. I then headed slowly to the front of the aircraft via the catwalk through the bomb bay area.
When I got to the engineer’s position I crawled up to the flight deck to look over the pilot and co-pilot’s shoulder. Pointing to the Instrument panel 
and pointing out to the pilot the small digital readout box in the middle of the Instrument panel I yelled “hey they didn’t have anything like that back in the day”. The pilot yelled back “they wish they could have”. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a CD player. I then jumped up into the top gunner position with the help of our own volunteer engineer from the Collins Foundation. He locked me up in the seat and I had a chance to rotate the turret and take in the sites and sounds of the mighty B-24, all the time thinking about my friend Ralph, his service and story of his last flight.
Dropping back down to the belly of this old bird, I crawled under the flight deck to the front nose gunner and bombardier position. Hard to believe the two crew members occupied this area of the craft. At the bombardier’s position I checked out the bomb site looking down at the local landscape and houses in the cross-hairs. Then all the way out to the nose, encased in glass, gun in hand I searched for enemy aircraft only to be tapped on the leg and signaled to prepare to land.
I was stopped just behind the nose landing gear and told to set down and don’t move. I could feel we were descending and all of a sudden the nose gear hatch opened and I was hit with 150+ mile per hour air that almost blew my eyelids off. After getting my wits together I managed to retrieve my sunglasses from my vest pocket to witness the landing gear extending out through the open hatch. As soon as we touched the ground I was tapped on the shoulder and told to push out on a red lever on my right, so I did. To my amazement the bomb bay doors came open and I knew I was in Ralphs engineer position. After exiting through the bomb bay door area and my feet firmly on the tarmac the flight engineer said “wasn’t that neat”, I just nodded my head, I couldn’t talk,…..I just walked away and lit a smoke.
Stay tuned for part two of the B-24 Liberator
More from the Vintage Motorcycle Show
Like I was saying in the previous post, the Vintage Motorcycle Show with the WWII Aircraft was a hell of a combination. It’s nice to get out and meet some new folks with the same interest in vintage motorcycles that you have. Pictured below are six members from Phantom Canyon Chapter of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America that made it to the Vintage Motorcycle Show last Sunday.
Pictured left to right: Jack and Pat (that’s Jack’s 48 Pan), Bob, Kim, John and Sue.
Jack’s bike took second in the Vintage Class. This is a beautiful 48 Pan ground-up bobber build by Jack. He probably would’ve beaten me out if he would have thrown this bike in the Custom Class were I took first with my 49 Pan.
Bob rode in on his 49 Pan.
And his brother John showed his 51 Pan.
John’s wife Sue rode in on this nice 1969 Sportster.
Bob’s wife took third place in the Custom Class with a salvaged bike out of Arizona that Bob worked over and I didn’t get a picture of.
This Ural took third in the Vintage Class.
There was another Ural that showed in the parking lot, and I was waiting for Charlie6 to show up on his, but I think he was up in the mountains enjoying cooler air.
That’s it for now, stay tuned for my B-24 ride/fly trophy report from the
Vintage Motorcycle Show
I finally entered my first vintage bike show after all these years of having a couple of bikes that when cleaned up, look pretty good. There were some nice looking bikes that rolled in before we staged for the show and the competition was looking strong. The bike show was just listing two classes of bikes, vintage and custom. I was riding my 49 pan and figured it to be a vintage custom. So when we rolled the bikes into the staging area I noticed my main competition going for the vintage class. Now I know any 1949 is of vintage grade, but there was no reason for me not to jump to the custom class so I did.
That turned out to be a good decision on my part, as I took first place in the custom class.
It was a rare 1941 Indian Military Model 841 that took first in the vintage class. This Indian was untouched with the exception of the owner replacing the cables and a little wiring. He told me the switch wiring was a bitch.
Bike Show First Place Vintage
The 1941 Indian Military Model 841
The American Legion Riders, District 4 from Colorado came up with one hell of an idea when they decided to sponsor this Vintage motorcycle show with the Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom Tour 2010. Thanks to the Legion Riders there were no trophy’s, just a set in an old war-bird. The first place bike owners were awarded a ride in one of the vintage aircraft. The gentleman that owned the Indian got the choice of flying in the B-17, which left me flying in the B-24, the plane I wanted to fly in anyway. The cost for a seat in one of these planes runs you $425 for a half hour, that’s one nice bike show prize. Second and third place in both classes picked up $20 gift cards. Funny thing is there were only a total of maybe twenty bikes in the whole show. If they do this next year with the same format and awards the place just could be a little crowded.
Bike Show First Place Custom
My 49 Pan
More on the Bike Show
I have to cut this post short. Stay tuned for more bike pic’s from the show and a full B-24 ride report.
Remember to click on the pics for a larger view.
Ride to Work Day
was inspired by “Work to Ride – Ride to Work’” marketing materials created between 1989 and 1991 by the Aero Design and Manufacturing Company, a Minnesota based manufacturer of motorcycle riders clothing. In 1992 these items inspired motorcycle magazine editor Fred Rau to write an editorial calling for a national ride to work day.
The first annual Ride to Work Day event was proposed in Road Rider magazine (now titled Motorcycle Consumer News) in the May 1992 issue. This is an excerpt from that “Ride to Work” editorial: “You may remember several months ago when Bob Carpenter, commenting in his ‘Two Up’ column, mentioned how neat he thought it would be if there was one day a year when everyone who owned a motorcycle used it to ride to work. That comment was prompted by a T-shirt produced by Aerostich RiderWear that simply said, ‘Work To Ride, Ride To Work.’ Everyone seemed to think that a national ‘Ride To Work’ day was one heck of a good idea.”
The first Ride to Work Day event date was July 22nd, 1992. For several years various motorcycle businesses informally promoted every third Wednesday in July as Ride To Work Day. These early advocates included Road Rider Magazine, Dunlop Tires, and Aerostich/Riderwearhouse. The event continued to grow as an informal grass roots demonstration every year until 2000. That year a non-profit organization, Ride to Work was formed to help organize and promote Ride to Work Day.
The first Ride to Work Day
event led by this group was the third Wednesday in July of 2001. This day was the annual day until 2008, when it was changed to the Third Monday In June. This change was made to climatically better accommodate riders world-wide, and to give more riders an opportunity to participate.
Source: ridetowork.org
about five years ago when I did a walk through with a friend of mine who flew with the 15th Army Air Corps, 450th Bomb Group. As we went through the B-24 Liberator on that day, my friend Ralph Poffinberger re-lived his 44 mission and last flight with me like it happened yesterday. As I flew on this day I know Ralph and his crew was up there with us. I will share Ralph’s last flight with you in my next post.
and pointing out to the pilot the small digital readout box in the middle of the Instrument panel I yelled “hey they didn’t have anything like that back in the day”. The pilot yelled back “they wish they could have”. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a CD player. I then jumped up into the top gunner position with the help of our own volunteer engineer from the Collins Foundation. He locked me up in the seat and I had a chance to rotate the turret and take in the sites and sounds of the mighty B-24, all the time thinking about my friend Ralph, his service and story of his last flight.
