HISTORIC PLANES ON DISPLAY AT OXNARD AIRPORT; WWII BOMBERS EVOKE MEMORIES.

Byline: Don Holland Daily News Staff Writer

George Goodwin knows he's very lucky to be alive.

At a time during World War II when one in three American bomber pilots were killed in action, Goodwin survived 35 missions over Nazi-held territory - including the two times his B-24 aircraft was shot out of the sky.

So it will be like greeting an old friend when Goodwin watches the world's only fully operational B-24 Liberator, accompanied by a B-17 Flying Fortress, touch down today at Oxnard Airport for three days of public tours and flights.

``The B-24 flies like a truck, but it does a good job,'' said Goodwin of Ventura, who is helping with the local visit sponsored by the Collings Foundation, a nonprofit group that displays the historic warbirds around the country. Last year, the planes made 131 two-day stops.

``Rather than put them in a museum, they decided to fly around the country with them,'' Goodwin said. ``Ten years ago, it was only the people that used to fly in them who were interested. Now we're finding that the sons and daughters and the grandchildren want to get in to see.''

Visitors can explore the planes' interiors while trying to imagine flying through anti-aircraft fire at 20,000 feet, where temperatures dip to 30 below zero.

The planes will also fly 45-minute tours every morning and evening. The $350 ticket helps cover the $2,000-per-hour cost to operate the planes, which are flown by off-duty airline pilots.

After being flown by pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps, the British Royal Air Force and the Indian Air Force, the B-24 was purchased in 1984 by aircraft collector Robert Collings. It took 97,000 man-hours and $1.3 million to put the bomber back in the air.

``It's a marvel because it's the only (B-24) flying,'' said Goodwin, 77. ``They've got some others out there, but they're not a true B-24, with the guns and the bomb area and the turrets.''

On a previous local visit of the old Liberator, Goodwin said he offered a few words of apology to the old bomber, which also was dubbed ``the flying boxcar'' because of its sometimes difficult handling characteristics.

Flying in perfect formation was physically demanding, yet critically important, so bombers wouldn't obstruct their neighboring crews' ability to fire on incoming enemy fighters.

``The B-24 was so tough to fly when we were over targets, the co-pilot and the pilot would shift every five minutes,'' Goodwin said. ``That's all they could handle.''

Goodwin was 22 years old in the spring of 1944, when he and his bomber crew were sent off to an air base in Italy. From there, the 465th Bomb Group pounded enemy targets in southern France, northern Italy, Germany and much of Eastern Europe.

``This was daylight bombing, which everybody thought was crazy - and it was crazy because they would lose half the planes some days,'' said Goodwin, noting the British preference for nighttime bombing runs. ``For all intents and purposes, we were sitting ducks.''

On one mission, bombers feigned making a run to Vienna and then turned at the last minute toward Lintz, Austria, where they wiped out a tank and armaments factory in its very first day of production.

But not every mission ended in glory.

Goodwin lost a lot of friends and had a couple of close calls himself. Once, anti-aircraft fire crippled his B-24 and he had to make an emergency landing at the closest airstrip. On another occasion, he was shot down over Yugoslavia but was able to land on an island just off the coast that was held by friendly forces.

``When we left the plane, the co-pilot counted 269 holes in it,'' he said.

Goodwin's luck held out. A rescue plane, which usually wouldn't be expected for days or weeks, arrived within minutes. He and his crew were back flying missions a few days later.

``It's real history,'' Goodwin said, reflecting on the old bomber. ``It's something that would be a crime to lose.''