Those of us lakeside will be treated to the sound of these Warbirds overhead that's been described as "felt", rather than "heard".
These engines are of a "radial" (round) design, and have a distinctive exhaust note. Instead of the "rap" of the related Harley-Davidson motorcycle engine, listen for the "chuh-chuh-chuh" of those big radials.
In wartime operations, repairs to control surfaces (rudder, elevators, and ailerons) were done with ease. Those surfaces were made of canvas, and the planes could be put back into service as soon as the glue dried.
The decorative painting is known as "nose-art" among Warbird fans, and is a study in itself. One shows the gallows humor of the day, with one bomber named, "Is this trip necessary?"
http://www.b24.net/nose/index.html
When I see boats with analogous "graphics" painted on the sides, I'm reminded of the aircrews that made it all possible: forty-thousand aviators were lost over Germany alone.
Google has quite an inventory of anecdotes. I learned this morning that these bombers were assembled mostly by women, and that scores of Allied bombers were destroyed on the ground by a Mt. Vesuvius eruption!
http://www.armyairforces.com/forum/m.../printable.htm
http://www.mucheswarbirds.com/CFB24art.html
If you visit, ask some of those misty-eyed oldtimers some questions, I did—and got some unbelievable WWII eye-witness descriptions more memorable than meeting up with the planes themselves.
