Collings Foundation Grounds Air Tour for WWII Aircraft

The Collings Foundation is ending its decades-long Wings of Freedom tour and putting its aircraft on permanent display at its Massachusetts museum.

Meg Godlewski

Thursday, November 30, 2023 at 05:16 PM ET

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Aircraft from the Wings of Freedom tour will be put on display at the Collings Foundation American Heritage Museum. [Courtesy: Hunter Chaney]

Key Takeaways:

The Collings Foundation has ended its decades-long "Wings of Freedom" tour, which offered flights on historic WWII aircraft, to transition to a permanent, immersive museum display at its American Heritage Museum in Massachusetts.
This change was primarily driven by the deadly 2019 B-17 "Nine-O-Nine" crash, which the NTSB attributed to pilot error, inadequate maintenance, and systemic safety failures, leading the FAA to revoke the Foundation's public flight exemptions.
The Foundation's new focus is on educating future generations through an expanded museum, acknowledging the declining number of WWII veterans and a shift from public flights to robust preservation and immersive historical displays.

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“In the wake of the 2019 B-17 Flying Fortress accident…” The message begins in the Collings Foundation American Heritage Museum newsletter, “We are moving forward on our long-term plans to bring the aircraft from a nationwide flying exhibition to permanent display here in Massachusetts.”

For decades, the Wings of Freedom tour brought World War II aircraft to thousands of aviation fans at airports across the country, offering rides for a price aboard the Boeing B-17G, B-25, B-24, and P-51D.