With more than 17,000 hours of total flight time, Chris Grounds will open the hangar doors of his Warbird Academy at Douglas Municipal Airport in southern Georgia on Nov. 9, 2024. Fittingly, the airport served as the home base for the 63rd Army Air Forces Flying Training Detachment Wing during World War II. There is a museum on the site, and parts of the airport are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
Grounds’ operation includes a range of aircraft from biplanes to jets. It starts with a 1943 Boeing Stearman primary trainer. Next in line is a North American AT-6 Advanced Trainer. Departing from the World War II lineup, the Warbird Academy also operates a Beech T-34A tandem trainer and the radial-engine equipped North American T-28B Trojan. Finally, customers can experience jet flight in the school’s Lockheed T-33 single-engine jet trainer.
According to materials released by the Warbird Academy, it was created “for two distinct reasons: First, to help keep our rich aviation history alive by offering specialized flight training in a variety of World War II and post-World War II military training aircraft. And Secondly, to provide an opportunity for individuals to experience the joys of flying in military aircraft from an open-cockpit biplane to a 600-mph jet.”
