Warbird Information Exchange

Lib­erty Foun­da­tion Flights….

in Featured Article, War Articles / by Jack / on August 14, 2012 at 11:16 /

This is one of those bucket list things: Get a flight in a WWII war bird. We took one today in the B-17 bomber “Mem­phis Belle” (not to be con­fused with the other B-17 Mem­phis Belle, but you’d be excused if you did).

A non-profit called the Lib­erty Foun­da­tion is run­ning this plane and a Cur­tiss P-40 fighter (alas, laid up) around the coun­try to raise aware­ness of WWII his­tory and bravery—and raise $3 mil­lion or more to restore another B-17, a replica of the “Lib­erty Belle,” that founder Don Brooks’s father flew as a tail gun­ner. The Lib­erty Belle suf­fered major dam­age in a fire last year, accord­ing to Keith Young­blood, our vol­un­teer spokes guide on today’s flight.

“They don’t teach much about World War II in school any­more,” Young­blood tells a gag­gle of press at Mar­tin Air­port. “Peo­ple see pic­tures of these planes with a wing shot off, rolling down. They don’t real­ize there’s 10 men on that plane.”

Nearly 13,000 B-17s were built but there are no more than 14 Boe­ing B-17 “Fly­ing Fortresses” air­wor­thy these days, and only one that flies as “Mem­phis Belle,” the name made world famous in 1943 after it and crew com­pleted 25 bomb­ing mis­sions in Europe. In those days—before long-range fighter escorts could pro­tect them—about a quar­ter of the allied bombers sent on any raid didn’t come back. Mem­phis Belle’s Capt. Robert Mor­gan & crew were both good and lucky, and they returned to the states for a War Bond tour. A doc­u­men­tary got made, and that movie formed the basis for the Hol­ly­wood treat­ment in 1990—in which this plane starred. You want to see it close up? Head over to Mar­tin Air­port in Mid­dle River on August 18 or 19. Tours are free—though dona­tions grate­fully accepted. Want a ride? Call ahead: (918)-340‑0243. Be pre­pared to shell out $450—planes like this cost upwards of $1 mil­lion per year to keep alive.

The flight is about 20 min­utes. The inside of the plane is Spartan—all riv­ets and smooth wood, steel guns and cables and bulky radio equipment.

The bomb bays have fake bombs, the tur­rets turn and the guns swivel. The ride in a B-17—at least on a per­fect fly­ing day like today—is smooth as glass. The obser­va­tion hatch was open.

War­ren Dor­fler, a B-17 mechanic who served 26 months in the 351 Bomb Group in Eng­land dur­ing the war, said his last trip on a B-17 took place on May 8, 1945. He flew today, and after the flight emerged from the hatch, with his cane and some effort, smiling.

Oh, and the orig­i­nal Mem­phis Belle? That’s in an Ohio hanger, under­go­ing restora­tion to become a museum exhibit…

Source and read more

http://www.warhistoryonline.com/feature ... ights.html