Historic Planes Pull Out of Pangborn Visit

Folks looking forward to seeing a WW2 bomber up close at Pangborn Memorial Airport this weekend might be a little disappointed after it was announced Thursday that both of Airbase Arizona Flying Museum's planes are back in Mesa for repairs.

All scheduled flights and tours of the historic bombers have thus been cancelled.

Ground Operations Coordinator Mike Mueller said a needed repair, found during a stop in Walla Walla earlier in the week, kept their B-25 Maid in the Shade from visiting Wenatchee.

On Thursday, it was announced the B-17 Sentimental Journey would be unavailable too.

"During an inspection of our B-17 on Tuesday while we were in Wenatchee, we found an issue that will require us to fly the plane back to our base in Arizona to properly resolve the issue," stated Mueller.

Mueller added that Airbase Arizona Flying Museum hopes to be back in Wenatchee in the near future.

"We will be back in Western Washington for stops in Seattle August 8th-14th and in Arlington August 15th-21st," continued Mueller.

The company's truck and trailer will still be at the Festival of Flight at Pangborn Memorial Airport this weekend for people wanting souvenirs or to learn more.

Sentimental Journey is one of over 12,000 B-17s built during WWII but is now just one of five still flying. Perhaps the most iconic bomber of the war, the B-17 model had a cruising speed of about 160 miles per hour and is likely best known for making bombing runs over France and Germany from fields in England.

According to Airbase Arizona Flying Museum, Sentimental Journey was built in 1944 and flew missions in the Pacific Theater. After the war ended, the plane was used for training, air-sea rescue missions and as a fire bomber. In 1978 she was bought by a Commemorative Air Force member a restored.

Maid In The Shade is a B-25J that served with the 319th Bomb Group, 427th Squadron at Serragia Airbase, Corsica. She flew 15 combat missions over southern Europe in late 1944, mainly to targeting railroad bridges. The plane was used for training after the war before being sold and used as an insect sprayer. She was purchased again in 1981, at which point Made In The Shade underwent a 28-year restoration.