for a price.
http://www.pnj.com/article/20130118/NEWS12/130118008/Take-ride-vintage-side-WWII-planes-visit-Pensacola?nclick_check=1
for a price.
http://www.pnj.com/article/20130118/NEWS12/130118008/Take-ride-vintage-side-WWII-planes-visit-Pensacola?nclick_check=1
I think those prices are well within reason for each opportunity. 
When you consider the costs involved in keeping those birds flying, it's a pretty damn cheap deal for the experience of a life-time.
I've done a B-17 ride with the EAA.
It's definitely worth it as a once in a lifetime experience.
If you can afford the cost, the price is right considering that the opportunity is there to do it at all.
I had gotten to do the walk thru of a B-17 as a teenager. I still remember walking thru the bomb bay. That was rad. If I could, I would totally pay the asking price to fly in one of my favorite planes of all time.
The Collings Foundation does a really nice job with those aircraft. I went to see them a couple years ago -- couldn't afford the flights, but for $10 they let me spend hours looking at them, going inside them, and then photographing the flights. Very cool.
Worth. Every. Berkeleying. Penny.
I've only ridden in a real-deal C-47 that dropped jumpers on D-Day, and that was enough to give me goosebumps for months.
I can only imagine how bad-ass a P-51 flight would be!
To me, the most impressive thing about a walk-through of a B-17 or other WWII aircraft is the complete lack of armor, and no pressurization. Thinking about the cold at altitude, and the thinness of the aluminum skin, and thinking about the risks of combat in that setting, our fathers and grandfathers were really, really brave men, and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude. All of our vets are heroes, but we can easily forget how desperate WWII was.
The P-51 price is a bit eye-watering, but $425 for a ride in a B-17 sounds well within reason. I'll pay that if they do an event in my area and my schedule allows.
the three most exciting plane rides I have ever had where (in this order)
I would think that riding in either a bomber of the Mustang would definatly come close to the top of that list
This was on my bucket list for a long time. I finally did the B-17 flight with Collings two summers ago. It was $425 for about 20 minutes of air time and it was totally worth it! During the flight, you can go anywhere in the plane except for the tail gunners position and the flight deck. Bring a good camera and a set of earplugs. Looking through the Nordan bombsight while in flight was awesome.
If you live in New England and haven't been to the Collings Foundation museum - it is really worth the trip. I took my dad to a car and plane show on father's day a few years ago and had a great time. The car museum had some really interesting stuff and I couldn't believe how loud the planes were when they did their flybys.
My wife is Executive Director of Leadership program that features as one of the perks, a ride on refueling run KC-135 National Guard flight. Unfortunately it is very tightly controlled so I havent been able to ride-a-long yet but I keep hoping. They even allow participants to climb(slither actually) down into the refueling bay. Definitely worth it!
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