Ever dream of flying in a WWII combat plane? In KC today, 40 mins costs $4,000
Beginning Friday, peer high into the skies above Kansas City — and particularly southern Johnson County — and there is a chance you will see and hear the whirring props of what are aguably some of the most iconic aircraft of the country’s World War II past:
A B-29 Superfortress of the type that dropped atomic bombs on both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A P-51 Mustang like those that fought the Luftwaffe on raids into Germany.
There, too, the very C-47 transport, dubbed the “That’s All — Brother,” that on June 6, 1944, D-Day, led a formation of some 800 aircraft just like it, carrying 13,000 American paratroopers, over Normandy for an invastion that would change the course of the war and world history.
What to know: For a hefty $4,000 you can be up in that P-51. . . for 40 minutes.
Or, hey, how about $2,000 for 20 minutes?
A 30-minute ride in the Superfortress, meanwhile, goes for either $617.40 (gunner seats) or $1,235.40 (navigator or radio operator seats).
The most economical deal: a 20-to-25-minute paratrooper’s seat ride on the “That’s All — Brother” C-47: $269.
WWII planes in Johnson County
As of Friday morning, when at 9:30 a.m. the P-51 roared down the runway with its first passenger, banking into the air, tickets were limited but still available online for what, obviously, is no normal air show.
It is not an air show at all, but instead is an event — now in its fourth year — with a dual purpose of, one, providing an experience for clients and hopefully new clients of organizer and sponsor, Modern Wealth Management of Lenexa, and, two, to raise money to support the efforts of the nonprofit Commemorative Air Force.
Started in Texas, the Commemorative Air Force is a volunteer organization whose mission is to restore and preserve World War II-era combat aircraft, commemorate their legacy, and provide museum buildings to house and protect the planes.
The organization has 80 units across the country, including one in Johnson County, the Heart of America Wing, that operates out of a hangar at the New Century AirCenter near 175th Street and Interstate-35.
The hanger houses both a small World War II museum and a PT-13 Stearman, a 1930s bi-plane that was used for training by the U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Navy. Rides in the Stearman typically start at $375, but this weekend free rides are to be raffled away as part of the event.
All the planes are grouped at the hangar, 6 Aero Plaza.
A chance to fly on a B-29
“The way it came to be,” said Modern Wealth Management advisor Wayne Robinson, “is a client of mine is a retired commercial airline pilot. And he’s a pilot in the Commemorative Air Force. I came down here to see his plane one day, and I was blown away by how cool this facility was. So I asked him, ‘Hey, could we do a client event? Because I’d love clients to come in and see this place.’ And that’s how it all started.”
By Friday, Robinson said, the event already had 250 clients who he said were attending a private Friday evening affair.
The B-29, flown by Steve Zimmerman of Olathe, a client and former commericial airline pilot, is scheduled to fly twice on Friday, twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday.
“It’s an honor and a privilege,” Zimmerman said of piloting the B-29. “Our whole goal is to honor, educate and connect. Honor the veterans, educate people — what this airplane did, the B-29 — and connect with people.
“We used to connect a lot with Word War II vets. That’s becoming very few. It’s a great experience to see what those young men — and they were very young, 17 to 23 probably — to see what they had to do.”
How to make reservations
Depending on reservations, the P-51 is to fly out as many as six flights each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The C-47 shows two flights scheduled for Saturday and one on Sunday. The C-47 has 16 seats available for each flight.
The public is welcome to the museum and hangar to see the planes and watch the acitivities. Admission is free.
Zimmerman said he is aware that the cost to ride on the planes seems a lot. He explained that for the B-29 alone, the cost of flying is about $12,000 an hour. Fuel can cost $5 to $10 a gallon.
“We’re not getting rich on this,” Zimmerman said. “It’s a huge deal.”
The P-51 Mustang
The first passenger of the day, in the P-51, flown by Jon Hullsiek of Hawaii, a former F-16 pilot now flying for Federal Express, was Larry Lutz, 82, of Topeka.
“I’ve always kind of followed the old war birds,” said Lutz, a realtor for 42 years. “I’ve always been fascinated by the P-51 . . . I think the speed, the maneuverability, the pure sound of the Merlin engine. I think it’ll be a good trip.”
Lutz signed on for 40 minutes.
Hullsiek, the P-51 pilot, emphasized that all the money raised from the flights goes to maintaining and preserving the very planes individuals are flying in.
“There are six of us that fly this,” Hullsiek said of the P-51. “And we’re responsible for the airplane. We don’t own it, but we’re responsible for it. And 100% of the cost of the ride goes right back into keeping the airplanes sound. Everybody that you see out here, we’re all volunteers. We come out on our own time, our own money, and we do this because we love it.”
For sticklers: Yes, the P-51 was made as a single-seat, single-pilot aircraft. The aircraft, however, has been modified with a modern instrument panel for safety. An 84-gallon fuel tank that was once located behind the pilot’s seat has been removed to allow a passenger.
“Almost every Mustang operator today has removed that,” Hullsiek said, “because we don’t need all that fuel. And how awesome is it to share this experience?”
Also: No, the machine guns no longer work.
‘A fantastic trip’
Lutz returned and landed safely at the airfield at 10:30 a.m.
“It was a fantastic trip,” Lutz said. “It really was. We got to see downtown KC. We got to see Arrowhead. We did a few maneuvers, witnessed around 2 G’s. The plane is just real smooth. You take off the earphones, the noise level is just tremendous. I don’t know how they flew like that.”
Worth it?
“Oh, yeah,” Lutz said. “You know, when you’re my age, anytime you do something like that, it’s worth it. You gotta keep going. You know, I was ready to do some barrel rolls.”
This story was originally published August 1, 2025 at 2:32 PM.
