With the Collings Foundation’s connections to Valparaiso, it is only natural that the nonprofit foundation devoted to preserving and exhibiting rare historical artifacts makes an annual visit to Northwest Indiana.

Wings of Freedom Tour, a living history event, stops Friday through Sunday at Porter County Regional Airport in Valparaiso.

“Bob Collings, the founder of the foundation, grew up in Valparaiso. He graduated from Valparaiso High School in 1956. His wife, Caroline, attended Valparaiso University. That’s one of the main reasons they continue to come back,” said Mike Prentiss, tour stop coordinator for Valparaiso.

“Also, there’s great interest in the aircraft. People continue to come out to the airport year after year to see the airplanes. We encounter people who’ve come to the airport since 1989.”

Now in its 28th year, the nationwide Wings of Freedom Tour features the Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress “Nine-O-Nine,” Consolidated B-24J Liberator “Witchcraft,” North American B-25 Mitchell “Tondelayo” bomber and North American TF-51D Mustang “Toulouse Nuts.”

“The Wings of Freedom Tour features four of the most recognizable World War II aircraft. Rather than having aircraft parked in a hangar, they fly the airplanes around the country,” said Prentiss, of Valparaiso.

“They will allow you to really get up close at the airport, touch them and crawl through the inside to see the various gun positions, see replica bombs hanging and see what it was like to be a crewman aboard these aircraft. We also provide flight experiences as well.”

Wings of Freedom Tour flight experiences are available by phone reservation on the B-17 or B-24 (30 minutes for $450 per person with passenger minimum of six and maximum of 10), or B-25 (25 minutes for $400 per person with passenger minimum of four and maximum of seven).

Further training is also available. Check the website for details.

“It allows you to get a hands-on experience of what it was like to be a crew member during World War II,” said Prentiss, a volunteer since 2007 with the Massachusetts-based Collings Foundation, which was founded in 1979.

“You really get a feel of what the men and women were going through when they were flying. It gives you a multisensory experience of feeling the vibrations of the airplane, the roar of the engine and things like that.”

New this year for the Wings of Freedom Tour is the Supermarine Spitfire fighter.

“This is a British aircraft the foundation recently acquired,” Prentiss said. “People will get to experience the airplane. They’ll definitely be able to walk around it and see what our Allies had overseas.”

Wings of Freedom Tour provides a tribute to the flight crews, the ground crews, the workers, and the soldiers, the sailors and the airmen during World War II.

“They sacrificed so much. There’s a reason why they’re called the ‘greatest generation,’ ” Prentiss said.

“The entire country sacrificed an incredible amount from 1941 to 1945. We really stopped peacetime production, and we switched to wartime production where no automobiles for civilians were being produced. It was mostly military vehicles and aircraft to help us win the war effort.

“There’s only a few World War II veterans left. The opportunity to have them come out and interact with the public is one of the greatest assets of the tour.”

Jessi Virtusio is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.