Not railway preservation-related, but today, Katy and I went out to Spirit of St. Louis Airport to see a restored Boeing B-17G bomber Liberty Belle. The aircraft is owned by the Liberty Belle Foundation, and tours the country for about nine months a year. This particular B-17G never saw combat, but was used for some time after the war as a test bed for Pratt & Whitney to test engines. After being damaged in a tornado in the 1970s, which severed the tail, the aircraft was restored to flying condition.
When I was a kid and saw a B17 pictured in the papers or movie newsreels, it looked huge. This one sure doesn't look as big when compared to today's monster airplanes. --A Hicks fan
ReplyDeleteCompared to the McDonnell Douglas MD-80s and Boeing 757s I travel in on a weekly basis, the B-17 does look small. However, imagine hundres of them, in formation, with the droning of their engines over your city. It must have been a site to see.
ReplyDeleteHad a flight on one several years ago as a birthday present, was really fun but got a bit of vertigo looking down through the bombardiers nose glass.
ReplyDeleteOn the last weekend in July, at Wayne County Airport in Ypsilanti MI, the last 8 flyng B-17's including the Liberty Belle, flew for large crowds at "Thunder over Michigan". VERY impressive, and since the airframes are getting older and less skyworthy, the next few years may see the end of all flying '17's.....Railroad preservation is expensive, but so is aircraft preservation. It also costs $4,000/flight hour. We will never see their like again.....
ReplyDeleteDoc Phil