NORTH PHOENIX - Len Rogers had the ultimate nostalgic flashback this week. He got a ride in a B-17 like the one he flew during World War II.

The Liberty Foundation took the Liberty Belle on a test flight Monday in preparation for public flights at Deer Valley Airport this weekend. More than 40 people already are signed up.

The group, based in Tulsa, Okla., is dedicated to keeping the Liberty Belle in flight. It is going around the country offering rides on the plane for about $400, visiting Tucson this past week.  A lucky few, like Rogers, got to take a ride.

"I feel absolutely exhilarated," he said while the engine warmed up. "I know there are others who wanted to be here, so I feel lucky. Out of 10 of us in the unit, only three are alive."

In fact, 1,500 veterans are lost each day, according to Scott Maher, a spokesman for the Liberty Foundation. Bringing back the experience for war veterans is one main reason the foundation wanted to keep the planes flying.

The Liberty Belle was brought back to life Dec. 8, 2004, after more than $15 million and 15 years of restoration work. A picture of the bombshell "belle" leaning on the actual Liberty Bell is painted above the wings.

Ninety-five percent of the plane is authentic, from the turret gunners to the canvas seats, Maher said. Aside from takeoff and landing, passengers have a chance to get up and walk back and forth during flight to peer out of the panoramic window down at the Phoenix city- scape or crawl into the bombardier to the Plexiglas nose of the plane on all fours.

In flight, Rogers stood up and steadied himself against a turret as he gazed out of the window, recalling his combat days. He told a story of being forced to parachute, passing out while falling for three miles before he came to at around 10,000 feet. His 21st mission on Aug. 13, 1944, was the last time he flew on the Liberty Belle.

Al Malecha, who has been flying for 58 years, called this opportunity an educational tool.

"This is wonderful because the sole purpose of the owner of the Liberty Foundation was to show people, particularly young people, such an important part of history," Malecha said. "This is a tribute to the veterans that flew these airplanes and to the hundreds of thousands of them that didn't come back."

Out of almost 13,000 B-17s produced between 1935 and 1945 almost 5,000 were lost, and fewer than 20 are still flying.

"The day a B-17 doesn't draw a crowd is the day they are silenced and parked," Maher said.