WWII Planes Will Fly Over Hawthorne Airport
The roar of World War II fighters and bombers will reverberate over the Hawthorne Municipal Airport on Sunday morning, while on the ground 20 pilots will recall the days of glory when they shot down a total of 180 enemy aircraft.
The occasion is the Hawthorne Air Faire, at the airport near the intersection of Crenshaw Boulevard and 120th Street. Admission and parking are free. The show will run from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
The refurbished planes--a C-47, two B-25s, two P-51s and a Japanese Zero, among others--will make one pass over the Hawthorne airport and then land.
Other planes--a B-17 bomber and a C-46--will already be on the ground. For logistical reasons, they have to be flown in earlier. Also on the ground will be military vehicles and autos from the World War II era.
World War II pilots expected to attend are William Farrell, Roger Haberman and Bruce Porter from the Marine Corps; William Henry, Hamilton (Mack) McWhorter and Arthur Munson from the Navy, and Robert Barkey, James Brooks, Harley Brown, Victor Cabas, Paul Conger, H. H. (Herkey) Green, Robert Goebel, Wallace Jordan, William Lewis, Bud Mahurin, Steve Pisanos, Jack Raphael, Oran Watts and Elmer Wheadon from the Army Air Forces.
The fair will include a showing of the 1943 film, “Fight for the Sky.” The narrator is Ronald Reagan.
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