Like a scene out of a World War II movie, the B-17G Nine O Nine passed over the Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional Airport in the light Monday morning rain, banked over the surrounding unplowed fields, and glided out of the sky onto the runway.

Nine O Nine was one of three airplanes owned by the Stowe, Mass.-based Collings Foundation that landed at VTR Monday as part of the foundation’s Wings of Freedom Tour to bring World War II history to local communities.

The P-51C fighter Betty Jane preceded the bomber, and the third plane, the B-24J bomber Witchcraft, followed about 15 minutes later, flying over the Southern Heritage Air Museum hangar on its approach to VTR.

The tour will be at VTR through noon Wednesday. People can see the planes Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon. There is no admission to see the planes, but tours of the bombers’ interiors are $12 for adults and $6 for students. Thirty-minute flights in the bombers are $450 each, and a ride in the P-51, which is a dual stick craft, is $2,200 for 30 minutes and allows the passenger to use the stick and fly the plane.

Tour manager Ryan Keough said the tour began 25 years ago as a way to get people involved in World War II history, and to encourage veterans to talk about their experiences.

“At the time, there was no national World War II museum like there is now, and World War II aviation museums are scattered few and far between,” he said. “People had to go long distances to see anything the quality of our bombers. We developed this tour as a way, instead of people having to travel long distances and veterans travel long distances to see these airplanes, to bring the aircraft to the local communities and draw out the veterans and draw out their stories.”

Since the tour began, he said, organizers have seen veterans who never before told their stories open up and relate their wartime experiences to family members.

“They come out, and all of a sudden their stories start flowing, Keough said. “All of a sudden, grandpa, or dad, or uncle, goes from just being a family member to all of a sudden becoming a hero, and it’s very poignant. We’ve seen four generations come out and hear granddad’s story or great-granddad’s story.”

Sometimes families of World War II veterans who have died will bring a box of war memorabilia they found stored at home when they come to see the planes.

“They bring it out to us and they say, ‘what does this mean?’ and we can kind of put the pieces together,” Keough said. “That’s one of the most important parts.”

The three planes at VTR are part of a collection of 27 vintage aircraft owned by the Collings Foundation that also cover the Korean War, Vietnam and Desert Storm.

“The aircraft themselves are outstanding,” he said. “Seeing them actually flying and operating is an amazing opportunity, but it’s the connection, the catalyst to keep the World War II history going from family to family and place to place.”

During flights, the passengers on board the planes are allowed to explore the planes and examine the equipment. With the exception of seats for the passengers, the planes are equipped as they were when they flew in combat starting in 1943. The bomb racks hold dummy bombs, the .50-caliber machine guns are mounted. The radio areas are equipped with the same radios used during the period, including a Morse code key.

Built by Boeing Aircraft Corp., the B-17G Flying Fortress is identified by its “chin turret,” and first saw combat over Europe in 1943. It was built in greater numbers than any other B-17 model.

Mac McCauley, who pilots the B-17G, said the plane flies very stable, adding, “it’s a great opportunity to bring them (the planes)” to VTR.

McCauley, who has been flying the bomber for 17 years, said the most common questions passengers ask involve the bomber’s speed and the altitude at which they’re flying. While the bomber’s not flying at 30,000 feet as it did on bombing runs over Europe, he said, the passengers are able to see a lot of scenery during their flight. But he added the bigger interest is in the equipment on board.

“The people on board, they’re actually touring the airplane, so they’re pretty excited to be in the different positions and see everything. The young kids see and get the full experience of flying in a World War II bomber,” he said.

Built by Consolidated Aircraft and four other contractors, including Ford Motor Co., which built a plant in Michigan called Willow Run specifically to build the B-24 Liberator, the J-model bomber also first saw action in 1943 and was also built in larger numbers than prior B-24 models. Unlike its predecessors, the B-24J had a nose, or front, turret.

B-24 pilot Mark Henley said flying the plane “is like driving a truck. There’s no power steering. It’s all mechanical; but it’s a pretty good airplane.”

“I wouldn’t have liked to have flown it in combat, that was (flying) eight or nine hours. They (the pilots and crews) had their work cut out for them. That was no cakewalk.”

Henley, who has been flying the B-24 since 2007, said most people ask him how many bombs the plane holds.

“It’s not quantity, it’s a weight,” he said. “They had different types of bombs. It was all based on what the mission was. The airplane has a total weight with the crew and gasoline, and whatever was left over was for bombs, depending on the mission, so the longer the mission, the less bombs they could carry.”

Keough said the tour visits 33 to 34 states each year and is on the road about 300 days out of the year. He said it costs about $5,000 per operating hour for each of the aircraft for gas, insurance and parts.

“For every one hour of flight time, you have to put 10 hours of maintenance time in, and it’s extremely costly in terms of money and resources,” he said.

He said fundraising efforts with the admission to tour the aircraft and the flights has helped keep the aircraft self-sustaining.

“More than 2 million people experience these aircraft per year,” he said. “That’s far and away above what you would find at World War II aircraft museums across the country. We see a couple of thousand on a weekly basis. So it costs a lot, but the benefits outweigh the cost.”