Colorado Springs, CO — Seventy-two years after D-Day, when American troops battled their way into Fortress Europe, one of the largest gatherings of World War II-era warbirds has been assembled in Colorado Springs and is open to the public.
The National Museum of World War II Aviation recently added 15 planes to its fleet – aircraft on loan to the facility from businessman Jim Slattery’s encyclopedic collection of rare flying machines.
Slattery, who owns a Colorado ranch and has been a big booster of the budding museum on the west side of the Colorado Springs Airport, is allowing the museum to show off a painstakingly restored and airworthy fleet including a PBY Catalina flying boat, torpedo bombers, observation planes and fighters.
Slattery said his fascination with the planes started in childhood, and showing off his collection will help keep alive memories of World War II and those who stormed Normandy’s beaches.
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