At Least Four B-17 "Flying Fortress" Bombers Mark The
Aircraft's 75th Anniversary
At least four of the remaining airworthy Boeing B-17 "Flying
Fortress" aircraft will be on hand to commemorate the legendary
World War II bomber's 75th anniversary during EAA AirVenture
2010.
File Photo
Only about a dozen of the iconic aircraft remain airworthy
anywhere in the world, including EAA's "Aluminum Overcast" that
brings aviation history to the public through national tours.
Already confirmed to join it at AirVenture for the week-long
"Salute to Veterans" is "Texas Raiders," "Thunderbird," and "Yankee
Lady" to honor the exact 75th-anniversary date of the B-17's first
flight - July 28, 1935. Numerous events throughout the week will
celebrate the B-17's legacy in aviation.
"These magnificent warbirds gathering in one place will mark
this special occasion in a memorable way," said Tom Poberezny, EAA
chairman/president and AirVenture chairman. "As we celebrate the
B-17's 75th anniversary, we honor these living links with
aviation's past and a reminder of the sacrifices of the young men
who flew them."
File Photo
"Texas Raiders," scheduled to arrive Tuesday, July 27 and depart
Sunday, August 1, recently emerged from an intensive eight-year
restoration at Houston's Hobby Airport. The warbird, which is
maintained and flown by the Commemorative Air Force's Gulf Coast
Wing, was one of the last B-17s built by Douglas and was delivered
to the U.S. Army Air Forces on July 12, 1945.
"Thunderbird," scheduled to arrive Sunday, July 25 and depart
Monday, August 2, flew 116 missions with the 303rd Bomb Group in
World War II. The warbird, which is housed at the Lonestar Flight
Museum in Galveston, Texas, will be featured at the "Warbirds in
Review" program on Wednesday, July 28, at 1300.
File Photo
"Yankee Lady," scheduled to arrive Thursday, July 29 and depart
Sunday, August 1, was built by Lockhead (Vega) and delivered on to
the U.S. Army Air Forces on July 16, 1945. The following year, the
warbird was transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard until its military
retirement on May 11, 1959. "Yankee Lady," owned by Yankee Air
Force and housed at Yankee Air Museum in Belleville, MI, was
featured in the movie "Tora, Tora, Tora" in 1969.
The B-17's 75th anniversary will be celebrated through several
events coinciding with the week-long "Salute to Veterans"
festivities honoring America's veterans, including a planned
"Missing Man" formation by four B-17s. At Theater in the Woods on
Wednesday, July 28 at 8 p.m., retired U.S. Army Air Forces Col.
Harold "Hal" Weekley and former volunteer pilot for "Aluminum
Overcast," will recount his experiences flying on bombing missions
over Germany. Weekley, one of the last B-17 aircraft commanders
from World War II still flying, made his last B-17 flight at EAA
AirVenture 2001, a week after his 80th birthday.
"Aluminium Overcast"
The B-17, which first saw combat in 1941 when the British Royal
Air Force took delivery of several B-17s for high-altitude
missions, was the first Boeing military aircraft with a flight deck
instead of an open cockpit, and was armed with bombs and five
.30-caliber machine guns mounted in clear "blisters." Boeing plants
built a total of 6,981 B-17s in various models, and another 5,745
were built under a nationwide collaborative effort by Douglas and
Lockheed (Vega). Most B-17s were scrapped at the end of World War
II. Some of the last Flying Fortresses met their end as target
drones in the 1960s - destroyed by Boeing-built military missiles.
EAA's "Aluminum Overcast," fortunately, was saved from the scrap
heap when it was originally purchased as surplus for $750 in the
mid-1940s.