Any time Maine Aeronautics Association does a fly-in and open house at Wiscasset Municipal Airport, it’s a chance for airport visitors to learn. But the one the nonprofit is planning this August will feature the return of an added, historical element on a group of U.S. airmen that made a difference for the U.S. beyond their service in World War II.

“Rise Above” is the Commemorative Air Force’s (CAF) traveling exhibit on the Tuskegee Airmen, the squadron of black pilots and support crews who served before America desegregated its military.

The CAF’s panoramic, climate-controlled theater comes in a trailer with a hydraulic lift to ensure all can access it, according to the CAF’s website at www.redtail.org. The tails of the Tuskegee Airmen’s fighter planes were painted bright red, the site states.

The open houses and fly-ins are a way to draw people to the airport, including area young people, Reece said. “Let them know that they can fly someday (and) what this airport means to the communities that it’s in, business-wise, and just have fun with it.”

Maine Aeronautics is a pilot-based organization that is all about community, Reece said. The group also is continually offering Federal Aviation Administration-sanctioned safety seminars for pilots, like one next month on changes in rules about pilots’ required medical exams, Williams said.

The Tuskegee Airmen’s legacy that the “Rise Above” exhibit honors is a good message for anyone, and an especially good one for at-risk youth, to inspire them to overcome obstacles in their lives, Reece and Williams said. To that end, Maine Aeronautics plans to invite youth groups to attend the exhibit Aug. 18 and Aug. 19, ahead of the Aug. 20 fly-in event when the theater will open to the rest of the public.

Veterans groups will be invited in addition to the youth groups, the couple said.

A prior event at the airport, Wings Over Wiscasset, also had World War II themes, and also sought to include veterans and youth groups; WOW premiered in 2013 as a hoped-for signature event in town and continued in 2014; then the Wiscasset Area Chamber of Commerce, which had picked up the event, canceled it in 2015 for lack of revenue.

The August event is not associated with Wings Over Wiscasset and is not an attempt to revive it, according to Williams and Reece. Both the airport and Maine Aeronautics have been involved with other historical offerings pre-WOW, including visits by the Texas Flying Legends; bringing in the “Rise Above” exhibit continues that tradition, they said.

The CAF also brought the exhibit to Wiscasset in 2011.

The prospect of this summer’s visit began with CAF contacting Reece about an opening in the group’s schedule. “We got a committee together and we decided, ‘Yeah, we can do this.’ And part of the reason we want to do this is, we’re losing our World War II veterans. It’s very timely, and I don’t want these kids to forget that,” Reece said. “I don’t want the public as a whole to forget that.

“So this is a really good opportunity for us to bring this (exhibit) back and have that recognition for all veterans not just the Tuskegee Airmen. But what they did under the adversity they had was pretty amazing. I really think it’s a story for everybody, and we’re hoping it’s going to rub off on the kids,” she said.

The pilots’ group needs to raise about $14,000 for the event, which will be free to attend, Reece and Williams said. Since the end of 2015, the first approximately $5,000 has been raised, mostly from pilots’ individual donations.

That quick and positive response assures them that the budget will be met and the event will go on as scheduled, the couple said. Plans call for a plane from the CAF Dixie Wing to be part of the exhibit, according to organizers.

The fly-in portion of the event means pilots will be coming in with vintage and other planes to show visitors, but it is not an aerobatics show, Williams said.

To donate toward bringing the CAF exhibit to Wiscasset, send a check with “Rise Above” in the subject line to: Maine Aeronautics Association, P.O. Box 501, Woolwich, ME 04579. For more information, visit maineaeronautics.org.