No, it isn’t a museum that flies, but it is a museum about flying, particularly during WWII. Located in Mesa, Arizona, the CAF Aircraft Museum was the second B-25 adventure we had during our jaunt to Arizona in search of a B-25 flying experience.
As it turns out, we spotted the newly restored Made in the Shade B-25 as she came in for her second test flight after having been grounded for 22 years. The folks there at CAF have done a remarkable job on her restoration and lucky for us, we got to peek inside once they rolled her into the hangar. A million questions get answered when you actually get to see inside the type of plane you’re writing about. Stories are about personal experience, and I would have had a hard time writing about the flight experience in this latest story if I hadn’t been able to climb inside and feel the tightness of the spaces, the thinness of the plane’s shell, the noise, and the smells.
And there’s more. Inside the CAF Museum are not only more planes, but flight suits, jackets, goggles, hats, and even bomb shells. It’s a valuable three-dimensional resource that was a great surprise to find. Thanks to their displays, I now know the difference between winter and summer flying suits–much needed by those in Europe. All these seemingly random details combine to lend truth to stories of historical fiction. And that’s important to me, even if the reader will only encounter them on a subconscious level.
CAF also operates the B-17 Sentimental Journey and has a number of other aircraft available for viewing in their hangar. Some info is available online at www.arizonawingcaf.com, but for full impact, go visit (preferably in the winter when eggs don’t fry on the tarmack).
WWII B-25 restored and operated by CAF Aircraft Museum in Mesa, Arizona.
