ITHACA, N.Y. (WENY) -- A special project in Tompkins County, more than 15 years in the making will finally become a reality this weekend in Ithaca. 

"The idea was born 16 years ago, and we've been actively restoring this airplane for over eight years," says Don Funke, President of the Ithaca Aviation Heritage Foundation. 

100 years ago, the Ithaca-based Thomas-Morse Aircraft Corporation won a bid from the U.S. Army Corp to build 600 planes which would be used for training WWI pilots. 

"If you were made out of the right stuff back then, then you might graduate to an advanced trainer. That was a single seat airplane as we see in the background here, and by that time you knew how to fly but you had no exposure to the kind of airplane you'd be flying when you went over there," Funke says. 

These planes, which flew at a competitive 95 mph, played a major role in the early years of aviation. They became known as the "Tommy" among pilots. The one currently being restored in Ithaca is also a little extra special. 

"It's a Thomas-Morse S4 they called it; and there was S4-B and S4-C. This is a "B" - there's only 100 of these planes that were originally built. There's only two of them that exist right now: this one and one and the one over at Old Rhinebeck, which is four hours away...in New York!" Funke exclaims. 

Once the word was out about the restoration project, people became interested. After tens of thousands of hours from an estimated 70 + volunteers, in addition to other help over the years, it's truly taken a village to bring history back to life.

"If we were going to build a museum piece, we could have been done two years later and it would have looked really really nice - to look at it from here, you'd say 'Oh that's not a great big difference, that's pretty...' But it didn't fly! And I like to say, you know, what makes an airplane an airplane? It flies!" Funke says. 

And this S4-B Tommy will do just that come this weekend. The Ithaca Aviation Heritage Foundation will celebrate the plane's long journey home for Tommy's Centennial Flight!

"To see an airplane after 100 years leave the ground for the first time on it's own, that's an experience...and one that we look forward to," says Funke. 

Tommy's Homecoming will take place on Saturday, September 29th from 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. at the Ithaca-Tompkins Regional Airport. The event is free and open for the public to attend! 

More information about the Centennial Flight can be found here: http://www.tommycomehome.org/?page_id=448