The Yankee Air Museum will kick off its flying season with a celebration of the 70th anniversary of VE Day on Friday.
The museum has a B-17 Yankee Lady and a B-25 bomber that can be chartered for flights on ten dates throughout the summer.
“Our main thing is to give people the flight experience,” director of outreach services Dave Callanan said.
“On Friday we’re going to be flying people over Royal Oak where our friends at the World War II Legacy Memorial Project are going to unfurl a huge American flag. And then for folks on the ground they can watch the airplanes taxi and fly overhead and just experience what it must have been like.”
The museum plans to send the planes up between 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. for as many flights as they can sell, weather permitting. Tickets to ride cost $450 for the B-17 and $400 for the B-25. The experience lasts approximately one hour, including about 45 minutes of flight time.
Callanan said at least two flights have already been booked on the planes and more are available for purchase. The majority of the ticket costs go toward keeping the airplanes in flying shape.
Each plane has a crew of three—a pilot, co-pilot and engineer—and can carry seven passengers.
Tickets for flights Friday or throughout the summer can be purchased on the Yankee Air Museum website. All flights take off from Willow Run Airport.