I took my sons to the Warhawk Museum today for the dedication of the Boise Bee P-51. The museum restored the plane and had it painted up to match Lt. Col Duane Beeson’s plane from WWII. Beeson was from Boise, Idaho and named his plane Boise Bee. It was a neat dedication with surviving members of the Beeson family and Col Bud Anderson. There was even a gentleman from England who wrote a fan letter to Beeson during WWII. He returned Beeson’s service cap that was given to him as a gift. It will go in the museum along with all of Beeson’s uniforms and memorabilia.
Standing in front of the Boise Bee. How cool is that?
You can just see the two AT-6’s taking off in the background of this shot. A four ship flight of P-51’s did multiple passes over the field in various formations. Always a fantastic sight and sound.
Fun fact about this plane, it inspired the pilots of the AVG to paint their P-40’s with shark mouths and that unit went on become the famous Flying Tigers of China.
We had a great time at the museum and Spencer took about a hundred pictures. I purchased Bud Anderson’s book and got him to sign it for me. Even shook his hand, a real thrill for a kid like me who grew up reading about his daring duels over the skies of Europe. I also picked up a second book by another wartime hero of mine, Tex Hill.
All in all, a fantastic summer day, the like’s of which don’t come around very much anymore.