Bomber Camp is Back: World War II Immersion Event Returns this May

Twelve O’ Clock High and Masters of the Air will come to life at Bomber Camp 2023. Hosted by the Stockton Field Aviation Museum, in Stockton, California, on May 4th and 5th, Bomber Camp offers an immersive World War II living history experience enabling participating ‘cadets’ to step back in time to train for a bombing mission and then fly it – for real. Cadets will experience the sights, sounds, and smells which few others have known, and gain a greater appreciation for the men and women of the Greatest Generation.

This year’s Bomber Camp offers an affordable, one-day program. Cadets will attend classes in the morning, have a GI lunch in the mess tent, fly a bombing mission in the afternoon, and then relax in the Officers’ Club after the mission debrief.

Bomber Camp 4 scaled — Ramp scene from a prior year’s Bomber Camp as cadets prepare for an afternoon mission to drop dummy bombs from a B-17 Flying Fortress. (Tim O’Brien)

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Bomber Camp begins with ‘cadet’ induction and orientation, followed by classes in aerial gunnery, bombardier training, navigation, and World War II radio operations. Gunnery class introduces cadets to various weapons systems which U.S. Army Air Forces aircrew would have used, especially the famous Browning 0.50-cal. machine gun. The class also includes instruction in how to operate a variety of U.S. bomber turrets (including the famous Sperry ball turret and Martin 250CE top turrets used in B-17s and B-24s, amongst other types) and flexible machine guns, and how to aim them by leading the target and compensating for range. Cadets will then employ what they have learned during a mission on board the Erickson Aircraft Collection’s Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Ye Ole Pub, where they will drop dummy bombs using the Norden Bomb Sight. Bomber Camp is the only place where you can experience this kind of World War II living history in such an immersive environment.