Eight pristinely-restored vintage bomber and fighter aircraft, which fought in World War ll, flew to Anguilla on Tuesday, March 16, on a “Freedom Flight”, attracting crowds of persons including schoolchildren. They came to stage an official air show in St Barths on Saturday, March 21, and to fly over the 2015 Bucket Regatta on Friday and Sunday, March 20 and 22.
It was arranged for the planes to land in Anguilla and to be based at Lloyd’s Aviation’s parking lot at the Clayton Lloyd International Airport as they could not be accommodated in St Barths. The antique aircraft warbirds, described as icons of industrial military art, were launched by the Texas Flying Legends Museum from Ellington Field in Houston and the Lewis Air Legends in San Antonio, Texas.
Jill Warren, a publicist with the Texas Flying Legends Museum, told The Anguillian that, because of technological limitations, the planes took two-and-a-half days to arrive in Anguilla, covering a journey of 2,200 miles. The historic journey is said to involve one of the largest fleets of warbirds to travel overseas, and for such a long distance, since World War II ended seventy years ago. The planes flew to Anguilla from Texas with refuelling stops in Alabama, Miami, Turks & Caicos Islands and Puerto Rico.
A release from Jill Warren said the journey of the planes was “a Celebration of Freedom”. The release went on: “The performance will honour our greatest generation, support our veterans and active duty troops, and educate our present and future leaders that ‘freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction’. The planes will be toured by over 100 schoolchildren from Anguilla and Saint Barthelemy to inspire them to learn the importance of freedom and democracy in protecting our way of life and embrace civic responsibility.
“The Saint Barthelemy Airshow shows Texas Flying Legend Museum’s and Lewis Air Legend’s resounding support for the US and our allies as we once again face an existential threat to our way of life and engage in a collective fight to protect and preserve freedom and democracy.”
The air show will include the rerenacting of a battle between a famous Japanese Zero fighter and an American FG-1D Corsair fighter, carrying the wartime nickname of “Whistling Death”. The eight planes, which flew to Anguilla to perform in St Baths, are the B-25J Mitchell “Betty’s Dream” which raided Japan after the Japanese attacked the US at Pearl Harbour; the TBM Avenger 3E Torpedo Bomber, once flown by Houston native and former US President, George H. W. Bush, the youngest ever Naval Aviator at 19 years of age; the P-40K Warhawk “Aleutian Tiger”; the A6-MZ Model 21 Japanese Zero “Last Samurai”; the B-25J Mitchell Bomber “Russian To Get Ya”; the P-38F Lightning “Glacier Girl”, the only survivor of an entire squadron of P-38s and B-17s attempting a crossing over Greenland in 1942; the F7F-3P Tigercat “Here Kitty, Kitty!”, a fast and heavily-armed fighter; and the F7F-3P Tigercat “La Patrona” the US Navy’s first twin-engine fighter which was heavily-armed with four 20mm cannons and four 50-inch machine guns, and served in Korea. Some of the planes still have their guns and bombs affixed.
Meanwhile, Mr David Lloyd, owner of Lloyd’s Aviation, which handles the modern executive jets now flying into Anguilla, welcomed with much delight the arrival of the World War II planes at the Clayton Lloyd International Airport, and the use of his parking lot. He was also happy with respect to the financial spin-off to hotels and restaurants in Anguilla in terms of benefits from the visit of the some 25 crew and passengers on the planes, and the publicity that Anguilla will achieve from the event.
