Teens, history buffs and other members of the public showed up as World War II aircraft landed in the Williamsport Regional Airport, but for at least two of the visitors, it was an opportunity to take a trip back to a younger part of their lives.
As visitors of the Wings of Freedom Tour walked through and toured the B-17 Flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24, Harry Wittman, 91, and Joe Diblan, 95, knew what it was like to sit in the pilot seats of those aircraft.
Wittman was a member of the U.S. Air Force for just over two years before being discharged, on account of World War II ending.
"I had 120-hour in the (pilot) seat and then the war ended," he remembered.
Wittman was a member of a local flight club but always wanted to become a pilot in the Air Force.
But as he explained, the goal was hard to attain because he was not a college graduate - which he said was a requirement.
"I was trying to get in the Air Force. They put a test out for us guys that weren't college graduates and I passed," Wittman said.
When he got a glimpse of the B-24 as it landed, he said it still looked the same.
But it wasn't a glamorous position to fly one, he said.
"It was scary. To me, it was scary," Wittman said.
Diblan didn't see action but trained those who did, as a flight instructor.
"I taught the pilots. They went overseas to do their mission and then I retrained them to be flight instructors," he said.
Diblan, who flew both the B-24 and B-17, said the B-24 was known as the "boom boom" airplane because of it exploding while in flight.
He said at one point he was flying one of the aircraft and a fire broke out.
The fire occurred because the fuel line sat on top of a mechanical system.
"That's what happens during war time when you need to manufacture things quickly," he said.
Another member of the crew quickly used a fire extinguisher to put the fire out and Diblan was able to land the plane safely.
"You can be good, but you ought to be lucky, too," Diblan said.
With the size of the planes Wittman said there's a lot of responsibility that came with being a pilot.
"That's quite a chore sitting in that (pilot) seat," he said.
The P-51 Mustang that was supposed to accompany the other two aircraft had mechanical problems and is expected to arrive today.
