@Fantasy of Flight, Polk City, FL
March 2009
At Kermit Weeks’ Fantasy of Flight facility, the aircraft are grouped by era and this partial reproduction resides in the WWII hangar. It has been announced that FoF will be closing to the public on April 7, 2014. I am posting a selection of photos highlighting some of Kermit’s many aircraft, one of the largest private collections of flight-worthy historic aircraft in the world. Constructed of wood, the Ba 349 Natter was designed to be launched vertically when enemy bomber formations were sighted. With only four minutes of fuel onboard, the pilot endured a 37,000 feet/min rate of climb prior aiming and firing his 24 unguided rockets. First flown in 1945 during the waning months of the war in Europe, only 36 were built. The only manned vertical takeoff flight attempt resulted in the loss of the pilot and aircraft.
