FRENCH VALLEY -- The thunder of motorcycle engines will be joined by the whir of helicopter rotors later this month as three Vietnam-era choppers travel across the country from Southwest County to honor veterans on Memorial Day weekend.

On Wednesday, the helicopters -- two UH-1 Hueys and one OH-58 Kiowa -- will take off from French Valley Airport and rendezvous with motorcycle riders, first in Rancho Cucamonga and then Adelanto, as the bikers begin their annual "Rolling Thunder" run to the Vietnam War Memorial -- the "Wall" -- in Washington, D.C.

Dubbed "Flying Thunder -- Flight to the Vietnam Wall," the helicopters are part of the Wings and Rotors Air Museum at French Valley Airport.

For the first time, helicopters will join the motorcycle rally, now in its 21st year, on the trip that honors those military heroes who have fallen and others still missing in action.

Each year, as many as 400,000 motorcycle riders take off from all over the country and ride to Washington, D.C., stopping to visit war memorials, veterans hospitals and military bases along the way.

Like the bikers, the helicopters will make stops at airports near towns big and small.

"You wouldn't believe the number of phone calls I've been getting," said Shayne Meder, a retired Air Force master sergeant who is both the museum's marketing director and a maintenance mechanic there. "I've heard from people in Tennessee, Texas and all over wanting to know when we'll be there."

The helicopters will make 43 stops over eight days, some just to refuel, others for overnight stays, as they fly across the country.

The aircraft will fly overhead as the motorcycles travel east, mostly along Interstate 40, said Pat Rodgers, the museum's executive director and chief pilot.

Rodgers, a retired master sergeant and veteran of the U.S. Army, Air Force and California Air National Guard, will pilot the lead helicopter, a UH-1 Huey he bought and restored to flying capability a few years ago.

"I actually bought this one as a stripped-down hulk off eBay," he said, standing next to the chopper on the tarmac at French Valley Airport.

The helicopter was built in 1962 and saw service in Vietnam beginning in 1965, Rodgers added.

Restoring the helicopter took him and others at the museum about a year and a half, and for the last three years the chopper has flown in air shows, over parades and at a Memorial Day observance that inspired the upcoming trip.

For several years, the museum's aircraft have taken part in West Coast Thunder, a local version of Rolling Thunder. On Memorial Day, motorcycle riders and the helicopters have taken off from a Riverside-area Harley-Davidson dealership and traveled to Riverside National Cemetery to take part in the annual observance held there.

"We got such a positive response from that, we decided to take it to another level and fly all the way to the 'Wall,'" Rodgers said.

Support for the effort -- the fuel bill alone is expected to be about $90,000 -- has come from corporate sponsors, including the U.S. Army, which views the trip as a positive promotion, Meder said.

Before their departure, the museum Tuesday will put the helicopters on display at French Valley Airport to promote the effort. The free event will start about 11 a.m.

"Everyone can come out that day and see the helicopters and buy a T-shirt if they want," Meder said.

The helicopters will leave about 7 a.m. the following day and are expected to arrive in the Washington area May 22.

After a few days of rest for the crew, the helicopters will fly over the Vietnam memorial on May 25 while thousands of motorcycle riders rally below.

"It's going to be amazing to see all of the motorcycles below us," Rodgers said. A similar sentiment will likely be shared by the bikers below, many of whom are Vietnam veterans who flew into and out of combat on helicopters just like those circling above them.

More information on Flying Thunder and the Wings and Rotors Air Museum is available at www.flyingthunder.org or by calling (951) 662-5653.

Contact staff writer John Hunneman at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2603, or hunneman@californian.com.