{"id":211801,"date":"2026-06-05T18:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T18:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/211801\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T18:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T18:57:10","slug":"rare-planes-classic-cars-featured-as-wwii-weekend-event-takes-flight-in-berks-this-weekend-reading-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/211801\/","title":{"rendered":"Rare planes, classic cars featured, as WWII Weekend event takes flight in Berks this weekend | Reading Area"},"content":{"rendered":"

BERN TWP., Pa. – If you\u2019re in Berks County this weekend, you may see and hear several planes, but many of them aren\u2019t from modern day.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the World War II Weekend<\/a> at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum at the Reading Regional Airport.<\/p>\n

The time traveling event is in its 35th year and shares the history of aviation and what our veterans lived through.<\/p>\n

\"Tents<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

WFMZ-TV | Sydney Kay<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been explained to me by other people that have come. It\u2019s as close as you can get to a time machine,” said Steve Messner, the officer manager at the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum.<\/p>\n

The 35th Annual World War II Weekend transports you to many places throughout time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in the Spider Web, which was a bar that was located on Guadalcanal at Henderson Field,” said Terry Sroka, the former airport manager and volunteer with the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum.<\/p>\n

\"WWII<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

WFMZ-TV | Sydney Kay<\/p>\n

Recreated by a real photo of the bar, it\u2019s been a staple at the weekend event for 16 years and an important stop to many WWII Veterans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they sit down here and start talking to us, it takes them back and they start telling us things that they normally wouldn\u2019t of told their family,” he added.<\/p>\n

Walking through the fields, you\u2019ll find more than 1,000 reenactors that are dedicated to sharing the history of those before them.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tradition and spectacle for many stopping by looking to learn.<\/p>\n

\"WWII<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

WFMZ-TV | Sydney Kay<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the vehicles, the planes. Last year we found out that Jeep actually wasn\u2019t started by Jeep, it was started by Ford,” said Christopher Burrell, from Lancaster County.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe come every year,” added Shayna Burrell.<\/p>\n

Sights you\u2019ll never forget travel across the runaway, like one from a long-range strategic bomber B-17.<\/p>\n

Preps before the flight of the 81-year-old plane are crucial. The team showed us how to make sure the props are cleared of oil.<\/p>\n

\"WWII<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

WFMZ-TV | Sydney Kay<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sound of these engines is like no other,” said Mike Garrett, a tour director with the Commemorative Air Force Airbase Arizona.<\/p>\n

A B-17 offers ticketed ride alongs, and Garrett says many do it to honor a family member who stood in that very role.<\/p>\n

\"Plane<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

WFMZ-TV | Sydney Kay<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially for those who passed away in combat, it can be very emotional. Sometimes they come off with tears of joy and tears of sadness,” he said.<\/p>\n

The World War II Weekend features many types of events throughout the weekend, including a swing dance Friday night and Saturday, and air shows on both Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BERN TWP., Pa. – If you\u2019re in Berks County this weekend, you may see and hear several planes,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":211802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[214,279,128,130,129,213,3705],"class_list":["post-211801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-_homepage_top_stories","tag-berks","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-reading-area","tag-sunrise"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/211802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}