Dream Flights is preparing to begin a Texas tour with its recently restored 1943 Boeing Stearman, with plans to provide open-cockpit flights for nearly 100 World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans. The aircraft, named Spirit of Texas, will begin the nine-city tour May 6 in Georgetown and is scheduled to wrap up June 9 in Horseshoe Bay. Additional stops are planned in Pflugerville, Brookshire, Fort Worth, Lubbock, Big Spring, San Antonio and Castroville.
“This airplane once trained a generation to serve—now it honors them,” Dream Flights founder Darryl Fisher said. “Our veterans take off at 90 and land feeling 30 years younger.”
Built in 1943, the group’s Stearman was used to train military pilots at Corpus Christi-Cabaniss Field during World War II and later served as a crop duster. The aircraft was donated to Dream Flights by Texas resident and U.S. Coast Guard veteran Shelly Tumbleson before undergoing a six-year restoration in Dayton, Nevada. Dream Flights said volunteers, including A&P mechanics, put more than 10,000 hours into returning the aircraft to airworthy condition.
The Spirit of Texas is based at Dream Flights University in Castroville, where the nonprofit trains its volunteer pilots, many of whom are retired military or airline pilots. Founded in 2011, Dream Flights says it has provided flights for more than 8,000 veterans nationwide at no cost to veterans or their families.