Weston Jones turns 73 today, so we took him on a 73 year old B-25 Bomber for a little flight!

Since I have 73 pounds on Wes, that makes me his little big brother. As kids, we rotated as to which brother shared the bed with him. It was good in the winter, as another body kept us warm, but it was tough in the summer, as the hot sultry nights made his stringed model airplanes fall from the ceiling. It seemed like I was hit in the ear more than once by a Japanese Zero. Needless to say, he had a love for airplanes, so it was only natural for him to enlist in the Air Force during Viet Nam and came home a proud Veteran-thinking the only plane was "his" C-130 which carried soldiers and equipment to the Pacific Rim. I thought I had strings with Hill Air Force Base, but my strings were as faulty as the ones that held up the model airplanes, but at least we got him a plane ride. Wes has a new "second" best plane after we put him on "Maid in the Shade", a B-25 bomber, which became famous in 1942. Lt. Colonel Jimmy Doolittle led 16 of them in a 2,000 mile raid over Japan, with the pilots knowing they didn't have enough fuel to make it back. With the first photo, Wes is at home in his C-130. In the second photo, the pilot gave him a chance to fly the bomber, but Wes said he would just go along for the ride, as he couldn't find the dam clutch on the plane. He was able to help lift two World War Two veterans up in the Bombing area, so this old Veteran got all of his striated muscles back...at least for a few minutes. I think he enjoyed his birthday present, especially when the pilot thanked him for his military service.