Page 23 - Volume 15 Number 7

was Bradford Lang, longtime CAF member, Red Tail volunteer and the son of a Tuskegee Airman was checked out and flying a Red Tailed P-51.Getting the airplane back in the sky was the beginning, not the end. We still had a dream of building a mobile exhibition that would tour with our airplane that we could take off the airport to schools, Boy’s & Girl’s Clubs, and other places where young people congregate that would share a story of how to use the example of the Tuskegee Air- men to overcome the adversity in their lives and realize their dreams and potential.Rebuilding the airplane was a dream and building a $1 million mobile exhibition was an even higher goal. The price tag for a mobile exhibition was nearly $1 million, and we didn’t have it. Again we looked to the story of the Tuskegee Airmen for inspiration to overcome what seemed impos- sible: raising more money.When we set out to rebuild the airplane we had no idea how much money it would take, or where it would come from, but we knew we could do it. We chased all kinds of leads and found small successes, but we never gave up. We never doubted we would be successful and persistence pays off. Early this spring the Texas Flying Legends Museum in Houston recognized our passion to tell this story and committed the funds to build our mobile exhibition.The Rise Above Exhibition will be a 53-foot double slide- out mobile theater with a 7-foot, 170-degree panoramic screen that is 50 feet long. The exhibition will allow us to take our story off the airport to the kids on weekdays and draw them to the airport on weekends to see the airplane.The exhibition will feature a 45-minute documentary during the week and a shorter 8-minuteTurbines Inc. Half Page 4/C AdScheme Designers Inc. Sixth Page4/C AdJULY 2011TWIN & TURBINE • 21