A Ride From the Past

Posted Thu, Sep 24, 2009 at 12:09 am

The Liberty Belle

TAMPA (2009-09-24) -

Charles Davis cranes his neck upward and takes a look at the plexiglass nose of the Liberty Belle. Just behind a pair of menacing 50-caliber machine guns is a fanciful depiction of a redhead wearing tight shorts, holding an American flag and cradling the Liberty Bell.

This is the first time he's climbed into a Flying Fortress since the war ended, 64 years ago.

Davis is 90 years old, but looks 30 years younger. The Sarasota retiree adjusts his old pilot's cap, crawls into the narrow door opening and takes his place beside the pilot. From out of the past, the old Curtis-Wright engines come to life.