Our Open House is around the corner! We're busy getting everything prepared to have an exciting two days - reenactors, reenactments, living history units, historical displays, food vendors, beverages, souvenirs, K9 demos, veteran interviews, 9/11 memorial, flame thrower, Chinook helicopter, tanks, tanks, and more tanks, and so much more! If you haven't preregistered, you'll want to do that because it will make your entry much faster. You'll get a barcode that we will scan and you can get right on to seeing things. If you sign up or renew your membership, you get your name in the hat for a drawing for a tank ride. All donations and memberships help with putting on the Open House and go to raising funds for the upcoming Americans in Wartime Experience. Help us preserve our history for future generations.

In the meantime, the Capital Wing of the CAF (Commemorative Air Force) is bringing together warbirds and veterans at the Culpeper Regional Airport on Saturday and Sunday August 12 and 13 from 10 AM to 4 PM during their Warbird Showcase event. The mission of the Capital Wing is to preserve as flying history its WWII warbirds to honor the thousands of men and women who built, serviced, and flew these vintage aircraft.

The Americans in Wartime Experience of Prince William County is bringing its mobile Voices of Freedom recording studio to the Capital Wing event to provide veterans of wartime and those who have served on the home front an opportunity to record and preserve their stories for future generations. Each veteran's story is captured on video in our mobile recording studio, and a copy of the recording is later provided to the veteran. The goal of Voices of Freedom is to educate visitors, especially school-aged young people, by preserving and creatively re-telling individual stories of personal experience, realities of war, and sacrifices made by Americans of all walks of life during these difficult moments in our history. Many family members comment after the interview that they heard stories and found out things about their loved one that they never knew. Stories of wartime experiences that have been tucked away in the memory of the veteran for many years, and in some instances, decades. 

Veterans of any American conflict from WWII to the present who attend the Warbird Showcase can record their stories for posterity. They may simply walk-up to the Voices of Freedom trailer at the Culpeper Regional Airport, or they can reserve a specific recording time by emailing CapitalWingRides@gmail.com or dgill@AmericansinWartime.org.

The public from the greater Culpeper region is invited to attend the Warbird Showcase, whether veterans or not, to see and hear warbirds of WWII take to the skies. Rides will be available in three different aircraft, all built in 1942. A Boeing PT-17 Stearman bi-plane, a Waco UPF-7 bi-plane with room for two passengers, and a Piper L-4 Grasshopper. Advance rides can be purchased at the Capital Wing bookings website https://www.capitalwingwarbirdrides.org/. Flights not sold in advance will be available on-site at the airport.

Visitors can also take the TBM Avenger “Wing Walk” where they can walk on the wing of the largest and heaviest single-engine bomber of WWII and see the cockpit or climb in the twin 50-caliber machine-gun turret from a WWII B-26 bomber. On static display will be a North American T-6 fighter trainer, a French Alouette II - the world’s first gas powered turbine helicopter, a British Percival Provst trainer – one of only two flying in the world, a North American T-28, and a Pipistrel motor glider.

The public can tour the Capital Wing hangar and see the very rare Stinson OY-1 which flew off the escort carrier White Plains at the Battle of Saipan in June 1944, the Fairchild UC-61 Forwarder, and view the progress being made on the restoration of the Vultee BT-13 Valiant basic fighter trainer.

The Capital Wing PX (Post eXchange) trailer will have a variety of military aviation themed items for sale and can make personalized dog tags on an original 1941 US Army dog tag machine. For those looking for a unique gift or table top centerpiece, the Capital Wing will be selling a variety of authentic aircraft cockpit instruments. Hot dogs for lunch will be available for a nominal donation.

The Capital Wing CAF is an all-volunteer, non-profit 501(c)3 organization.

Capital Wing will have their twin 50-caliber machine-gun turret from a WWII B-26 bomber for us to see at the Open House. They're also bringing their 1941 US Army dog tag machine to make dog tags.