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Veterans Day
Survivor of WWII gets new tour of duty
A restored B-24 Liberator bomber, part of aviation history, stops in Zephyrhills before continuing its educational tours.
By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published November 11, 2004
 [Times photo: Dan McDuffie] A B-24 Liberator from World War II sits at the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport. It's the only one in the world still flying. It was shot down over India and later offered to the Smithsonian, which declined to take it. Now it's owned by a non-profit group that takes it to air shows around the country. |  [Times photo: Dan McDuffie] Dan Cameron, a retired Air Force master sergeant who lives in Brooksville, stands in the bomb bay of the B-24 Liberator bomber that he is inspecting at the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport. |
ZEPHYRHILLS - Long after its combat days had passed, the Dragon and His Tail sat silent and grounded in India, time eating away at its aluminum body and valiant history.
Now the B-24 Liberator, a World War II bomber built in 1944, sits on the tarmac at Zephyrhills Municipal Airport, undergoing maintenance until it can take to the skies again.
The colossal plane is the only one of its kind in the world still flying - or flying again, to be more specific.
Dan Cameron, a retired Air Force master sergeant who lives in Brooksville, is leading the maintenance project. It's just a routine inspection that must cover every bolt and tube. In 1989, he was part of a 20-man team that spent 21/2 years and $2.5-million restoring the plane.
He speaks slowly and admiringly, relating the story of the bomber.
The plane, one of 19,000 B-24s made, flew missions over the Pacific Ocean during the war, its nine-man British Royal Air Force crew battling the Japanese. A bright green dragon decorates one side, and a list of benefactors and veterans lines the other.
The plane survived the war, and eventually was sold to the government of India, which used it in combat through the 1960s. It went unused for many years, save being picked for parts. Eventually it was purchased by a private collector and brought to England, but it corroded in storage.
Finally, a Massachusetts nonprofit organization brought it back to life. The Collings Foundation owns numerous aircraft that tour the country to honor veterans and educate young people about World War II history.
Since 1989, the B-24 Liberator has visited more than 100 cities a year.
A glance around the plane's interior is like a step back in time: 60-year-old .50-caliber machine guns still aimed out the window for the two waist gunners. A catwalk with no guardrail connecting nose to tail. Not a millimeter of plastic anywhere.
Walking space is cramped and seats are small, reflecting how much bigger human beings are these many years later.
Cameron, who served three tours in Vietnam, marvels at the craftsmanship: 37,500 pounds when it's empty, with a 110-foot wingspan and four engines.
"They did this with slide rules. They didn't have computers," he said. "There was no billion-dollar cost overrun. It was made on time with a slide rule."
Cameron worries that the history of aviation will slowly fade, as flight films degrade and veterans die off. The B-24, he says, is living history. "All the blueprints are gone, and many of the airplanes are gone. There's going to be a big gap."
So he gets his fingers greasy working on the plane, accompanies the tours and hears fascinating stories from veterans about combat, captures and escapes.
"When you look at the airplane, it's really extraordinary," he said. "It's just like a moving memorial to the World War II veterans."
[Last modified November 11, 2004, 06:44:17]
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