AUBURN — “You see them on TV, but you never really know what they’re like inside,” marveled Russ Allen of Auburn as he made his way slowly through the belly of the B-17G Flying Fortress at the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport on Monday afternoon.

Inside, the plane was a tight squeeze, with little room to move or stand upright. Machine gun positions line the plane, and a narrow metal bridge, with ropes running alongside as handrails, crosses the hold once used to store the bombs that rained down on Germany. A radio operator once sat at a wooden desk not unlike a schoolchild’s.

The World War II-era bomber had touched down in Auburn about an hour before, along with a North American P-51 Mustang, as part of the Wings of Freedom tour. A B-24 bomber also scheduled to come experienced mechanical problems while leaving the Beverly, Mass., airport earlier in the day, said a representative of the Collings Foundation, which owns the planes. They were hoping that the plane would rejoin the tour in the next few days.

It didn’t take long for the educational tour’s staff to open the planes up to visitors, and a small but steady crowd wandered around the tarmac Monday afternoon, inspecting the planes and asking questions from veteran volunteers.

Most of those in attendance appeared to be old enough to be World War II veterans themselves — several wore caps and sweatshirts stating they were — or children of veterans of the war. A few, such as Allen’s 11-year-old twins, Ryan and Russell, were young airplane enthusiasts and history buffs.

The tour will travel to 110 cities this year to honor veterans and the sacrifices they made, tour staffer Aaron Malone of Florida said. For young visitors, the tour “gives them an appreciation for the freedoms they’ve got now,” he said.

He pointed to Earl “Smitty” Smith, a volunteer who drove from Conway, N.H., to answer questions about the plane and tell visitors about his personal experience as ball-turret gunner in the original B-17 that the tour’s plane is modeled after.

Stationed in Grafton-Underwood, England, during the war, Smith flew missions over Germany, curled up with a machine gun’s operating apparatus in an enclosed, rotating turret that protrudes from the bottom of the plane’s midsection.

“You were on your back in the fetal position. It was more comfortable than it looked, ” Smith said as he showed visitors an illustration of an airman inside the turret.

It looked like an ultrasound scan, one man said.

As the Allens exited the B-17, another young boy was asking Smith about his right hand, now a metal hook that he uses to grasp and hold. An enemy bullet hit him during a mission, Smith said, with no trace of bitterness.

“How much did it hurt?” asked the boy, before his grandfather said he was asking too many questions.

“No, he’s not,” Smith said. “That’s how you learn.”

Leaving Smith to look at the P-51 Mustang, the Allens talked about the disconnect between the experiences of real-life soldiers and those portrayed on film and television.

The movies, Ryan said, “Are more bragging than the real deal.”

The airplanes will be on display at the main ramp of the Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport at 80 Airport Drive. Ground tours and displays are available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday. The cost is $12 for adults; children under 6 are $6. WWII veterans can tour through the aircraft at no cost, and discounted rates are offered for school groups.

The tour also offers the chance to fly in the bomber, before and after the ground tour times. A 30-minute flight aboard the B-17 is $425 a person. A flight in the P-51 Mustang, including “stick time,” is $2,200 for 30 minutes, $3,200 for a full hour. For reservations, call 1-800-568-8924.

Wings of Freedom tour

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday

WHERE: Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport, 80 Airport Drive, Auburn

COST: $12 for adults, children under 6 are $6; WWII veterans can tour through the aircraft at no cost; discounted rates for school groups

The tour also offers the chance to actually fly in the bomber, before and after the ground tour times. A 30-minute flight aboard the B-17 is $425 a person. A flight in the P-51 Mustang including “stick time” is $2,200 for 30 minutes, $3,200 for a full hour.

FMI: For reservations, call 1-800-568-8924.