A couple weekends ago, my brothers and I met up in Columbus to experience the Gathering of Mustangs and Legends. This was a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see dozens upon dozens of P-51 Mustangs that had flown in for the event, plus sevaral other WWII-era fighters and bombers. They called this one "The Final Roundup" because the living Legends in attendance are well into their 80's, and sadly but inevitably shrinking in number every day.
The weather was incredible, and the planes and the flying were beyond exceptional. I didn't have the opportunity to meet any of the Legends on hand myself, but my brother Lee was standing near a B-17 and an old, weathered veteran standing nearby. He'd flown in these things in the war, and somebody asked him if he'd like to hop back in one again. He said "you know, I'm getting old enough I'll probably never get the chance again, but I'm not young like you folks, I can't climb up there anymore". And without hesitation another bystander said "how about a couple of us lift you up in there, and then you can show us around and tell us all about your time in these things". And so they did. And that's a lot of what the Gathering was about.
It was a great time and a good chance to spend some manly-man time with my brothers.
I've uploaded some pictures, and here are some picture/video compilations I put together. Part of the magic of the experience for gearheads like me is the sound, so if you're like-minded, be sure to crank up the speakers. The end of Part 3 shows a truly historic flyover by 20 Mustangs in a special formation, it's not to be missed.
