I've pasted in a copy of the email I received from the Collings
Foundation. If you have a moment to send an email/comment to the
addresses noted it would be worthwhile. I spent two years flying the
B-24 and B-17 and truly believe that having these airplanes on tour is a
great way to honor the sacrifices of our WWII veterans and also a great
way to educate people about the sacrifices of WWII. I was lucky to be
able to spend time with many veterans and know that from the way these
vets act around the bombers it is very worthwhile to keep them flying.

Thanks.

To Friends of the Collings Foundation:

HIGHEST LEVEL OF URGENCY: EFFORT TO KEEP THE B-17, B-24, & B-25 FLYING

Good evening everyone. You are getting this email because you signed up
for the Collings Foundation¹s eNewsletter and have shown an interest in
helping to keep our historic aircraft flying for many years to come. We
are sending this letter to you in the hope that you will find time to
help us fight the latest issue that would potentially devastate our
ability to fly the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, and B-25
Mitchell.

These three aircraft operate under a Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) Exemption letter that allows The Collings Foundation to fly these
aircraft for ³flight experiences² where you may actually fly in the
aircraft for 30 minutes. These flights are the primary fundraising
effort and are literally the driving force that keeps the bombers
flying.

These exemption letters are issued for two years and then are renewed at
the end of each term for the organization that wishes to continue it. We
have done so for many years without a problem.

Our current exemption letter expires on Oct 31, 2005 and we are reaching
a very high point of urgency. Despite having a request at the FAA Office
of Rulemaking for the past nine months for renewal of the exemption
letter that would continue allowing us to offer flights in the B-17,
B-24, and B-25, the FAA still has not issued a renewal or an extension
of the exemption letter. We are two weeks away from the expiration of
the letter and bureaucracy has tied the process up and no one has given
us an answer, nor has been able to give us the status of this request.

We need your help! Please contact anyone at the FAA that you feel
could/should help, including:

Marion Blakey * FAA Administrator *
Ida Klepper * Office of Rulemaking *
Or your local representatives or senators.

Make sure and reference the FAA Exemption Letter 6540F and note this is
for The Collings Foundations B-17 (N93012), B-24 (N224J), and B-25
(N3476G).

If you can help, we ask you to please carbon copy email your letter to
. Thank you for your help to ³Keep
Œem Flying!²



Best regards,
Bob Collings
Collings Foundation

--
Dale L. Falk

There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing around with airplanes.

http://home.gci.net/~sncdfalk/flying.html