For an aircraft built in 1944, the Maid in the Shade handles well and flies smoothly over the Saanich Peninsula.
The B-25 Mitchell bomber, built in Kansas during the Second World War, flew into the Victoria International Airport Monday and the crew with the Arizona-based Commemorative Air Force hosted a media flight that afternoon. It鈥檚 in town as part of the organization鈥檚 regular Flying Legends Victory Tour, which brings vintage military aircraft to airports across North America. Most recently, they had a B-17 bomber at the Victoria airport last year.
People can visit the aircraft all this week through the Victoria Flying Club, off Canso Road in North Saanich. There will be tours of the aircraft every day and flights for paying customers Friday to Sunday.
Monday鈥檚 flight saw some Second World War veterans sit up front and experience first-hand how the aircraft moves and feels 鈥� and must have felt, for the many air crews who served in the U.S. Air Force.
Maid in the Shade itself is one of 34 in the world still flying. The plane was used in the American large-scale bombing offensive in the Philippines during the war, as well as missions over Italy and Yugoslavia. It was used following the war in Texas as a duster 鈥� spraying to combat red ants 鈥� before it came to the Commemorative Air Force, where it was restored. It鈥檚 now part of the organization鈥檚 collection 鈥� used to teach people about the aircraft the crews who flew them, and maintained them, during the war.
To learn more about the organization, and to get your seat on the bomber at the Victoria airport this week, visit or .
