Gulliver Goes on a Warbird Tour

Since 2017, Bob and I have volunteered to go on tour for two to three weeks every summer with the Commemorative Air Force Airbase Arizona. Bob first went in 2016. It took him a year of inviting me to activities at the airbase when we lived in the Phoenix area before I finally agreed to become a member. I haven’t looked back since. 

We had planned to head east this year on our travels before we knew the B-25J Mitchell and B-17G Flying Fortress WWII bombers were going to do the same. As a result, we found ourselves in somewhat close proximity to them many times. In fact, we visited the tour stop in Ashland, Virginia, when we were in that state. 

Typically, we board a commercial airline to one of the warbird tour stops and then fly with the B-25 or both the B-25 and B-17 to the next couple of stops before flying home on an airliner. 

This year, we got a call from the airbase crew scheduler asking if we could help at a stop that wasn’t part of our scheduled tour segment. Since we were in the vicinity, we decided to pitch in. That meant delaying our trip from Massachusetts to Michigan to fit in a weeklong stay at a campground in Plattsburgh, New York. And that meant Gulliver got to go on his first warbird tour. 

Historical Significance

Plattsburgh is only about 20 miles from the Canadian border. The Plattsburgh International Airport, situated on the shore of the 435-square-mile Lake Champlain, was once the Plattsburgh Air Force Base. It still features the buildings and tower that hearken back to its military days in the 1950s, during the Cold War. But the airfield’s history doesn’t start there. 

The airport is actually known as “the longest active military installation in the U.S.,” dating back to the Revolutionary War, with involvement in every American war thereafter until the airbase's closure in 1995. 

Designated as a base for Strategic Air Command, the airport’s runway spans 11,750 feet and stretches 200 feet wide. Its size made it an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle between 1981 and 2011. During WWII, the base served as home to B-47 Stratojet and FB-111 Aardvark bombers. So it made for an ideal stop on our warbird tour — other than the extra long runway. (The passengers didn’t mind, as it gave them a longer ride experience.) 

Call of Duty

We arrived in Plattsburgh on a Sunday and watched the B-17 fly in the next day. While I worked, Bob spent most of the week wrenching on the B-17, which was due for its 100-hour inspection. Since he’s a certified A&P (airframe and powerplant), he needed to be there to sign off on the maintenance work. I was able to carve out a few hours during the week to help train two new ride coordinators on the flight system and proper procedures.

Gulliver transported us to and from the airport (about 3 miles from our campground), as well as to and from restaurants and the hotel where the rest of the crew stayed. He also helped shuttle crew members between locations and hauled tools and supplies from a hangar to the tour trailer after the maintenance was complete.

Gulliver was even on standby to tug the B-17 out of the hangar for its engine check but didn’t get called on. Instead, a tug did that job.

I took off Friday from work to help with the tour stop. Weekends on tour tend to be quite busy as passengers arrive for flight operations on both planes and purchase souvenirs from the tour trailers before we open for static tours on the ground. Then, people from the community show up to climb through the planes, take pictures, and buy mementos. The weekend in Plattsburgh was no different. 

I helped as a ride coordinator and flight loadmaster, looking over passengers and engines during flights. Bob pitched in wherever needed. The B-25 arrived Friday afternoon as we were wrapping up flights on the B-17 for the day.

After two full days on the airplane ramp, we packed up Tagalong and hooked him up to Gulliver. The next morning, we parked our rig at the fixed base of operations for the last day of flight ops for the tour stop. We stayed for a couple of hours before Gulliver whisked us away to our next destination, grateful for the part he played on the warbird tour. 

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