A Flying Museum Comes Closer To Reality For The Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation

The Berlin Airlift Foundation was founded in 1988, to preserve the mission of the Berlin Airlift which operated between 1948 and 1949. The Berlin Airlift provided supplies to people in West Berlin, after the Soviet Union cut of all forms of travel into and out of the city on June 24, 1948, depriving people of necessary goods. The United States and Britain turned their aerial arsenal from war to saving those that had previously been our enemies.

The Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation acquired their Boeing C-97G 1996. A former KC-97 (an aerial tanker variation of the cargo airplane), this plane is one of only two remaining airworthy C-97's in the world. They plan to operate the "Angel of Deliverance" as a flying museum, and classroom, in the same manner as they do with their Douglas C-54, "Spirit of Freedom".  They plan to tell the story of the Cold War, from the Berlin Airlift of 1948 to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Now, we have been informed that last week the Foundation successfully started the massive engines that power their C-97. This aircraft has been a long term project due to its complexities, owing much of that to its 28 cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines. This aircraft, developed from the post-World War II B-50 bomber, was known as the Stratofreighter. Its civilian airliner configuration was the Boeing 377 Stratocruzer.

We at ANN congratulate this great organization on their successful first engine startup, and we are looking forward to seeing this aircraft at future air events.

(Image a screen grab from Facebook)

FMI: http://www.spiritoffreedom.org/