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October 15, 2010 -
The Wings Over Houston Airshow at That initiative is a program to help people, particularly young people, understand and appreciate the history and legacy of a special group of black pilots who flew airplanes with bright red tails during WWII - the Tuskegee Airmen. The Red Tail Project, an all-volunteer non-profit organization that is part of the Minnesota Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, completed a $1 million restoration of the Mustang, named Tuskegee Airmen in 2009. |
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The Mustang had been restored once before and toured the air show circuit for three years starting in July 2001. At each stop, its pilots and crew took every opportunity to tell audiences the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first black fighter pilots to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps (now U.S. Air Force). Air show attendees are spellbound as they hear how after training at the segregated air base in Tuskegee, Alabama, the Tuskegee Airmen were sent first to Africa and then to Italy where they distinguished themselves as American pilots, proving that black men had the courage and intelligence to fly and fight effectively against the Axis powers, particularly the Germans.
The Airmen and
their crews painted the tails of their fighters red and, as these pilots
proved their skill and courage in the skies over Sadly, the CAF Red Tail Project?s Mustang crashed due to catastrophic mechanical failure at the Red Wing (MN) Air Show in May 2004, killing the Project?s leader, Don Hinz, and destroying the airplane. The members of the CAF Red Tail Project never doubted that the plane would one day fly again so it was trucked up to Tri-State Aviation in Wahpeton, ND, and fundraising began. |
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