(Radio Iowa) – A squadron of rare airplanes from the World War Two era has landed in central Iowa, all of which are open for tours as well as for flights — though many rides are already sold out.

Cheryl Hilvert, tour leader for the Air Power History Tour, says the largest aircraft in the collection is a heavy bomber, a B-29 Superfortress. Nicknamed “Fifi,” it’s one of just two B-29s in the world that’s still flying — that’s out of nearly four-thousand that were built between 1943 and ’46.

“The B-29 is really the queen of the fleet here,” Hilvert says. “She is available for tours through Friday. We also have a T-6 Texan, a Stearman biplane, and a C-45 Expediter that are available for rides, and this weekend we’ll also be having a P-51 Mustang join us.”

The tour’s only Iowa stop this year is at the Des Moines International Airport. Hilvert says they’re keeping history alive, and they have a three-fold goal: to educate, honor and inspire.

“So, educate the public about the tremendous contributions of our greatest generation,” Hilvert says. “Honor those people who would fly on these airplanes, as well as stay behind and build them. And then inspire our younger generation to want to know a little bit about the contributions that happened back in the ’40s.”

The B-29 Fifi and the P-51 Gunfighter (Commemorative Air Force photo)

The late Air Force Colonel Paul Tibbets, who spent part of his childhood in both Davenport and Des Moines, is best known for piloting another B-29 — named the Enola Gay, after his mother — on a key mission that helped bring about a swift end to World War Two.

“That was the type of airplane that dropped the two atomic weapons on Japan,” Hilvert says. “So, Colonel Tibbets certainly was a big part of that history. He has actually flown with us on Fifi and his grandson has flown her as a pilot. So we’ve actually got a good connection into both Iowa and the Enola Gay.”

There is a fee to tour the airplanes on the ground, and a much larger fee to take a ride in one. It’s a steep price, but Hilvert says it costs between 10- and 12-thousand dollars per hour of flight to keep just the B-29 operational.

The squadron will be in Des Moines through Sunday.