Friday, Nov. 12, 2004 | 10:59 a.m.
Spectators at this weekend's Aviation Nation Air Show at Nellis Air Force Base will be transported back in time 60 years as they watch a re-creation of the June 6, 1944, D-Day landing by vintage World War II-era planes.
"This is going to be one of the last real major tributes and get-togethers for our World War II veterans," said Lt. Col. Robert Hertberg, who is directing the show that runs Saturday and Sunday. "The World War II veterans are continuing to age and they are leaving us rapidly.
"Everyone at Nellis is excited that we have the chance to honor them this way."
A B-17 "Flying Fortress" and two B-25 bombers will simulate bomb drops conducted on D-Day as pyrotechnics explode below. The U.S. Army's Golden Knights parachute team will then re-create the scene of thousands of soldiers parachuting into Europe during the Normandy invasion as they jump from a restored C-47 "Skytrain."
Flying alongside the bombers and the C-47 will be a P-47 Thunderbolt, two P-51 Mustangs and a British Fairey Firefly.
About 400 World War II veterans are expected to attend the airshow, including Ray "Hap" Halloran, a B-29 aviator who was shot down over Tokyo in 1945 and was a prisoner of war for more than six months.
Halloran, whose plane and crew were known as the "Rover Boys Express" after a 1940s children's book, remembers jumping out of the B-29's bomb bay door after the bomber was critically damaged by a Japanese fighter plane.
"I fell free for an estimated 24,000 feet before opening my chute at about 3,000 feet over Chiba Prefecture East of Tokyo," Halloran said. "Japanese fighters closed in as I hung in my chute, and one even saluted me from in close."
Halloran said six members of his crew did not survive that day.
Halloran was tortured in Japanese prison camps before being liberated by U.S. Marines on Aug. 29, 1945. He was on the hospital ship Benevolence in Tokyo Bay along with the battleship Missouri where the peace treaty with Japan was signed.
Halloran will join other World War II veterans and an estimated crowd of more than 150,000 over the two days at the air show.
Dan Stark, director of marketing at Boyd Gaming, said that the air show is becoming a fixture on the Las Vegas calendar and should continue to grow.
"Most bases hold air shows every other year, but at Nellis they have adopted the idea of having one every year," Stark said. "It makes sense for the Air Force because it's good community relations to show the taxpayers what their taxes are paying for, and it's a recruiting tool.
"At the same time we have an economy that is dependent on tourism and this is another way to fill up hotel rooms during a period that can be a little slow."
An annual air show is a natural at Nellis because it is the home of the Thunderbirds, the Air Force's F-16 demonstration team, and ground zero for the Air Force's advanced training programs, Stark said.
About 124,000 attended the show last year, according to Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority figures. 13,800 of those spectators were from out of town, and were responsible for an estimated $9.4 million in non-gaming revenue.
Along with the tribute to World War II veterans the show will be headlined by the Thunderbirds, the Air Force's demonstration team. The Nellis-based demonstration team of F-16s will be performing its last shows of the year Saturday and Sunday.
The show will also feature Glacier Girl, a restored World War II-era P-38 Lightning that was recovered from under 268 feet of ice in Greenland in 1992.
The twin-rotor fighter was one of six P-38s and two B-17s forced to land in Greenland in July 1942 because of bad weather. The planes were en route to the war in Europe when they were forced to land, and while the crews were rescued within a few days the planes remained on the icecap and were covered with ice.
The plane has been restored to flying condition and made its first flight in 60 years in October 2002.
The show will also feature the Air Force's newest plane, the FA-22 Raptor, as well as Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II, Navy F-14 Tomcat and Air Force F-15C Eagle demonstration teams.
More than 100 aircraft ranging from World War I biplanes to the Raptor will be on display on the tarmac at Nellis this weekend. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be represented by a model because Lockheed Martin is still constructing the aircraft.
The first F-35s are expected to be delivered to the Air Force in 2008 and are expected to replace the F-16 Falcon and the A-10. A carrier version is planned to replace the Navy's F-18 and a vertical takeoff and landing version is planned to replace the Marine Corps' Harrier.
Tonight through Sunday the Fremont Street Experience will be hosting USO-style shows downtown beginning at 8 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday nights a dance orchestra will be playing at the Fremont Street Experience from 6-10 p.m., and there will also be light and sound shows titled "American Freedom" on the inside of the canopy.
For those not planning on attending the air show, or the festivities downtown, there is still a chance to catch a glimpse of historic aircraft in the skies over Las Vegas on Saturday and Sunday.
A B-25 bomber, P-51 Mustang and a British Spitfire will take off each day from Nellis Air Force Base and fly in formation over Las Vegas for about 40 minutes.
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