The scheduled Penticton visit of the B-17 Bomber “Sentimental Journey” has been cancelled.
Officials of the Arizona-based Commemorative Air Force Museum, which organizes the Flying Legends of Victory Tour, said the Penticton stop along with six others that were to begin at the end of this month were cancelled because of an extension of repair time.
Related: Sentimental journey in the air
“AZCAF also decided to utilize the opportunity this repair presents to perform more work than is required in order to extend the life of this rare warbird. Currently, only eight World War II B-17 Bombers are listed in flyable condition around the world,” said a release on the CAF website announcing the cancellations.
Kamloops was also on the list of stops which will not happen.
This was to have been the fourth visit of a CAF aircraft to Penticton, the second for Sentimental Journey which was last here in 2015. The events are hosted by the Penticton Flying Club.
“Absolutely it’s disappointing. We were really looking forward to it because anything we can do here for the airport certainly helps, and it’s a big attraction for a lot of the veterans,” said club vice-president Randy Shuya Tuesday.
Related: Warbird touches down in Penticton
Maid in the Shade, a B-25 Mitchell bomber, another Second World War plane was in Penticton in 2014 and again last year.
Sentimental Journey is still on schedule for a pair of B.C. stops in August, in Abbotsford and Victoria.
“Yes, it really is too bad but we don’t have control over this sort of thing,” said club president Ron Johnson. “It brings back a lot of memories for the veterans, of the bad times as well as the good times.”
While on location, the aircraft are available on a daily basis for static tours and an opportunity to talk with crew members who fly the planes.
As well, people also have an opportunity to actually take a flight aboard the warbirds.
It’s not known if there are any plans to host one of the CAF aircraft in 2019, however Johnson said about the possibility of one of the aircraft landing here again: “We sure hope so.”
