Sentimental Journey

A few weeks ago I saw that B-17 Sentimental Journey and B-25 Maid in the Shade were going to be in Pittsburgh. After watching the miniseries "Masters of the Air," I wanted to fly in a B-17 again. It had been nearly 10 years since I'd flown in this very plane pictured.

I bought tickets, which totaled $950 for the gunner position. We got up and drove the 1 1/2 hours to the Pittsburgh area for our noon flight. When we got there, the B-25 was out, but the B-17 was in the hangar. Apparently it had a mechanical issue and hadn't flown any of the previous days it was here. But they were getting it out today.

They got it started and flew the first two groups a few hours late. Then winds picked up. They were able to fly the B-25 a couple of times, but the crosswind got too strong and wasn't letting up. The remaining flights were scrubbed when the B-25 landed. One of the employees said it was a turbulent ride and that several people had gotten sick. It was also around 7 p.m., so it was getting late.

I got a partial refund; Jill suggested donating some of the money anyway since this is a project I want to help.

We had planned on going to Kennywood after, but now it was too late. We were going to meet a friend there. Oh well. We grabbed dinner from a great taco place and went home. Maybe next time.