B-25 Mitchell "Maid in the Shade" at Bessemer National Airport on 5/4/2026 (Nathan Watson / Bham Now) — B-25 Mitchell “Maid in the Shade” at Bessemer National Airport on 5/4/2026 (Nathan Watson / Bham Now)

World War II history buffs are in for a treat this week.

The Flying Legends of Victory Tour is coming to the Bessemer National Airport.

Two iconic World War II aircrafts, the B-17 and B-25 will be on display.

According to Flying Legends of Victory Tour volunteer Bruce Cooper the two planes, which are operated by the Arizona Commemorative Air Force Museum are named:

B-17 Flying Fortress — “Sentimental Journey”
B-25 Mitchell Bomber — “Maid in the Shade”

Cooper told Bham Now the B-25 model is one of only 25 left in the world that still flies today. During the war effort and afterwards about 10,000 were made. This particular plane that will be shown in Bessemer actually flew 15 combat missions.

One of the special features of the plane was the top secret “mechanical computer” the bombardier used to hit their targets.

“There’s like a telescope — a periscope kind of thing… with a whole bunch of knobs and dials, he (bombadier) can put in their air speed, and he can put in the wind speed outside the plane. He can put in their altitude, and it does calculations. And then there’s two arrows, and they move together. As soon as they’re right next to each other, he pushes the button (dropping bombs on intended targets).”

“It helped tremendously with accuracy — That it was considered top secret. They didn’t want that to fall to the enemy.”
Bruce Cooper, Flying Legends of Victory Tour volunteer

Interested in seeing the two planes?

The public is invited to come tour the planes and learn about their history and impact at the Bessemer National Airport on the following dates this week: