Final Air Show Elicits Memories

Re “Last Word in Air Shows,” April 20: The article brought back the memory of the 1954 El Toro Air Show (the fourth annual one). I was a USAF B-29 pilot and combat veteran of the Korean War. My crew and I were chosen to bring a B-29 from our base in Mountain Home, Idaho, to the 1954 show.

We did not anticipate the excitement and interest our old aircraft would generate. We were the most popular aircraft on display.

Due to the continuing long line of people who wanted to climb aboard, we decided to speed the process by allowing them to crawl from the flight deck via the bomb bay tunnel to the gunner’s central fire control station and exit the rear door ladder. Kids, parents and grandparents crawled that long tunnel. After what seemed like several thousand visitors, the floor padding was completely worn out, leaving a well-polished aluminum pathway in our tunnel.

I have attended many air shows as a civilian and am sorry to see it go.

HUGO V. SCHMIDT

Newport Beach