Just a note for any local readers who may be looking for something interesting to do this weekend: a pair of World War II-era bomber planes are going to be in the area, on display and open to the public for tours. It’s the same pair I’ve written about before, the B-24 and B-17 that are owned and operated by The Collings Foundation out of Stow, Massachusetts. As an added bonus this year, they’ve brought along a “little friend” — a P-51 fighter, just like the ones that used to escort the bombers on their missions over Europe 65 years ago.

Even if you’re not into airplanes per se, I urge you to take advantage of this rare opportunity to see three functioning pieces of an increasingly distant moment in history. Take your children, if you’ve got them, and help them understand that history isn’t just a list of dates in some dry-as-dust textbook, that it’s composed of real events that happened to real, breathing people. Nothing makes that point more strongly, in my opinion, than something like an ancient airplane that still flies and smells of oil and exhaust and hot metal, something that still lives. When you’re around objects like that, it’s easier to imagine what our grandparents — or great-grandparents, I suppose, for the kids today — experienced and felt and accomplished. You can sense the past in ways you just don’t get from a book or a sterile specimen sitting behind velvet ropes in a museum somewhere. I find it exhilarating, myself.

Speaking of exhilarating, if you can afford it, you really must look into booking a flight experience. My dad and I went for a ride in the B-24 a few years ago, and it was one of the flat-out coolest things we’ve ever done. I can’t gush enough about it. It was also a great bonding moment for a couple of grown men who often can’t find anything to talk about, if that gives you any ideas.

But if the flight experience is beyond your means, at least go for the walkthrough tour. The Wings of Freedom tour will be stopping at the Heber City airport tomorrow through Sunday, and then will appear at Provo’s municipal airport on Monday and Tuesday. I understand the walkthroughs will be offered from 1000 to 1700 hours (that’s 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., for you civilian types). In the meantime, you can click that photo up there at the top and be treated to a ridiculously huge view that’s almost — but not quite — as good as seeing the real thing…