The Bomber Gas Station B-17 - Any news?

[Fortress17W]

I was wondering if anybody knows of any developments regarding Art Lacey's B-17G at Milwaukee, Oregon?

I stopped by there during a trip to Portland in September 2008 and took the two attached photos. The navigator/bombardier section of the nose was on display in a small building nearby.





Here is one I took back in 1990, when the gas station was still open and the aircraft was largely in one piece.


Hard to believe it has been almost 14 years since the nose was removed.

-Jon Davis

[daveymac82c]

She looks to be in a sad state nowadays.

Is there a reason a group or organization, or collector hasn't taken her down from there and rebuild her to "awesome" condition?

It strikes me as very strange that it's a freaking B-17 and it's not being looked after properly.

Someone please fill me in on what's going on with her.

Peace,

David

[Pat Carry]

I'm sure if it stays up there long enough one or both of the wings will fall off. Sad looking for sure.

[JimH]

No Bucks No Buck Rogers. Its just not that easy...it is a monumental project even to static standards. I would venture to say 4-5 million at the low end.

jim

[Second Air Force]

I'm sure if it stays up there long enough one or both of the wings will fall off. Sad looking for sure.

Trust me, Pat--the wings on that old girl will never fall off without extreme intervention from Mother Nature. The Fortress wing is so close to indestructible that it defies description.

It would be nice to see her restored, but as Jim said, it will take a huge amount of money to make that happen. I do appreciate that they are trying to move the project forward, though.

The Lacey family still owns her, do they not?

Thanks for the photos!
Scott

[snj-5]

Not sure if this is the same aircraft / location or not....(?).

Bela P. Havasreti

[The Inspector]

I used to work with a guy @ BADWRENCH, now retired, who recounted that after the war the RFC had several B-17's sitting around in Portland Or. A guy who owned a string of 'gippo' gas stations bought all of them for a few thousand dollars and drained all the fuel out of them for his stations and left the aircraft. The RFC contacted him and asked what he was planning to do with them his reply included a few adverbs and some not so indirect suggestions as to where he thought the bombers should go or be placed.
Lacey apparently had the 'BOMBER GAS STATION' idea and obtained one of the empty, abandoned airframes but couldn't get permission from the 1940's version of ODOT to tow the airplane on city and County streets so he hooked a tow bar and truck to his airplane and towed it in the middle of a weekend night to it's current location.

[Jesse C.]

Here is their website history on the bird.

http://www.thebomber.com/History.asp

http://www.b17wingsoffreedom.org/

[aerovin]

After spending a fair amount of time and effort reviewing the accounts of the participants and the available paperwork, the Lacey account is a bit of stretch, at least in my humble opinion. The WAA bill of sale shows $1,500, it was transferred to Lacey for "educational purposes only," and the pilot for the ferry flight, Bob Sturges, had a whole different recollection of the events. Suffice it to say, this has been discussed at length in earlier topics at WIX and other places and in some books, even.

[aerovin]

I used to work with a guy @ BADWRENCH, now retired, who recounted that after the war the RFC had several B-17's sitting around in Portland Or. A guy who owned a string of 'gippo' gas stations bought all of them for a few thousand dollars and drained all the fuel out of them for his stations and left the aircraft. The RFC contacted him and asked what he was planning to do with them his reply included a few adverbs and some not so indirect suggestions as to where he thought the bombers should go or be placed.
Lacey apparently had the 'BOMBER GAS STATION' idea and obtained one of the empty, abandoned airframes but couldn't get permission from the 1940's version of ODOT to tow the airplane on city and County streets so he hooked a tow bar and truck to his airplane and towed it in the middle of a weekend night to it's current location.

And this is pretty much a bogus story also, except for the last part about moving the airplane over the ground.

[Django]

It looks like the nose isn't even complete in the display in the building according to the website pics. Old pics maybe?

[daveymac82c]

My girlfriend was curious to know where that plane was so I googled it.

Here's what I found:



If anything, I hope she gets indoors within the next 5 years (Am I being too hopeful?), and I hope she gets some good attention.

Peace,

David

[Warbird Kid]

I agree with JimH saying that the cost of getting this bird back into good condition would run upwards of 4 to 5 mil. And from what I've heard she's pretty bare inside. The full turret she had at one point was lifted and installed into "Sentimental Journey" so that gives you an idea. Still it has to be the most neglected B-17 in North America.

I say give it to Tom Reilly and let him work his magic. Then give it to 1941 HAG or sell it to Jerry Yegan.

PS: So the locals don't get upset about them losing there bomber, have a fiberglass example installed in the same location.

[jtramo]

People will literally burrow deep into glaciers in the arctic or trample through dense jungles in the South Pacific to get these aircraft and here is one just hanging out above a gas station. Interesting. It may cost a lot to restore but at least its right here in the open a tractor trailer away from a hanger in the good ol US of A.

[Garth]

No Bucks No Buck Rogers. Its just not that easy...it is a monumental project even to static standards. I would venture to say 4-5 million at the low end.

jim

Parts, labor ... or both?

There are probably at least a few groups/museums around that would want a B-17 and could turn it into a very-longterm restoration project built around volunteer labor and a goal of bringing the exterior to a decent cosmetic appearance and then restoring the interior as time, money, locating of artifacts, etc allow.

NEAM, for instance. Or the group down in Memphis/Mud Island that lost the Belle.