Kennett Air Show: Warbird Warriors on a special mission

Aircraft of all kinds were on display Saturday at the Kennett Air Show. Perhaps the plane with the most unique mission was a 1944 PV-2 Harpoon, one of three such flyable aircraft in the world. "The only reason it's not a bunch of soda cans is because it was turned into an agriculture sprayer after the military got rid of it," said the plane's owner, Dave Hansen of Heber City, Utah.

The military stopped using the plane in 1954. "It worked primarily in Dothan, Ala. Ultimately, it was purchased, and it was going to be turned into a tanker -- a fire bomber. It went to Wyoming, which is where I got it. It sat for 20 years from the time it last ran to the time we flew it out of Wyoming. In fact it was 20 years, nine days," he said. "We didn't overhaul the engines, but we went through everything else. We overhauled all the accessories and got it ready to fly. We flew it down to Heber, where we did all the military reconfiguration."

Hansen still does the maintenance on the plane. Since 2009, he and various pilots take the aircraft around the country on a special mission. "We try to raise money for the foundation, Warbird Warriors. Our mission is to reunite vets and their families with the aircraft and educate younger people about their history."

Unfortunately, many World War II veterans are no longer with us, but there are times an old vet meets a long-ago friend. "We had a chance to take one vet for a ride about three weeks ago back in Utah. That guy just turned 91, and he used to fly them out of the Aleutians, where this one was based. Nobody believes he's 91. He flew us around the valley. When he got in, he got in the co-pilot's seat, where he actually flew from. He was quite at home.

When vets get into the airplane, they immediately look a lot younger than their age. "When they get out, they need some help, but they climb right in. Their hands go to the same spot. When they start sharing stories, it's stories they don't usually share with their families. Once you reunite them with their old friend, their comfort zone is such that all of a sudden those stories start to come out. That's our payday," he said.

Hansen says very few people recognize the plane as a World War II vintage aircraft. "It flew in the Aleutian Campaign, and it also flew in the South Pacific. They'll look at it and see the twin tails and think it's a B-25. I'll say 'No, there's no training wheel on the front.' It's got a tail wheel, and it's a little bigger. It's considered a land-based Navy medium bomber. It has about the same payload as a B-17, when you don't put all the fuel in it," he said.

Hansen bought the plane, sight unseen, in 2006. "I got it flying in October 2007, and started touring the plane in 2009. This year has been the busiest for us so far." The aircraft has been featured in 18 shows so far this year, and will appear in upcoming shows in Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Florida.