Posted on 05/17/2018 12:04:32 PM PDT by DFG
It may mean crewman lost.
When they show the scenes where the planes are coming in to land, and they pass down the runway on the far side, banking gracefully, timing it so they are lined up perfectly by nearly completing a perfect half circle just as the runway appeared under their wheels...
Such grace and beauty in a weapon of war. Watching that maneuver, you could see how pilots loved flying it...
They didn't like the B-24 as much, as it had to be manhandled and fought with as much as flown, or so I am told.
I was wondering about that, though I was thinking first to drop (don’t know if that’s how it works, admittedly).
Great photo. Sad to hear that at some point the great bird was left to vandals.
The stars means they were the lead plane. The yellow stars are for the bomb group, the red was for bomb wing.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/memphisbelle.com/2016/04/20/faq/amp/
Sometimes I really miss Grandpa’s America.
It was not the same one, but they used the name.
Yes, the one I saw has the script logo. I have a pic, but no way to post it here. I stand corrected. All this time I thought it was THE Memphis Belle. Rats! I even bought one of her spark plugs as a souvenir. Still, it WAS a B-17, and I do have one of her spark plugs!
West Memphis...lol
Years ago, a friend of mine of the WW II generation, told me of how he knew the gal that the bomber was named for. He confided that she was a good gal but more on the side of homely than pinup beautiful. Pictures support his assessment.
Interesting. So not scared of snowflakes after all, just trying to make it as it was in-theater vice during the stateside bond tour. Interesting that the Army jazzed it up for impact with all those swastikas just for the public’s imagination!
It wasn’t the original Memphis Belle. After returning from England, it was featured (along with its crew) in a nationwide war bond tour. After the war, it was discovered sitting in a “boneyard” in Oklahoma, to be sold for scrap. To his credit, the Mayor of Memphis bought the aircraft, saved it from destruction and brought it back to the city for display.
Unfortunately, the leaders of Memphis neglected the famed bomber. It was displayed outdoors, exposed to the elements. And vandals soon made their way inside, stealing virtually anything they could from the aircraft. Eventually, the B-17 was moved to a new exhibit area on Mud Island, in the Mississippi River, but it was still (partly) exposed to the weather and the city made no effort to restore the aircraft.
The Air Force Museum in Dayton finally took possession of the aircraft in 2005. It has taken 13 years—and over 55,000 hours of volunteer work—to restore the “Belle” to something approaching its original condition. Many of the cockpit gauges had to be built from scratch, using original schematics.
Very few flyable B-17s still around. Commemorative Air Force has one, based in the Houston area. Nicknamed “Texas Raider,” it rolled off the assembly line in July 1945, just before the war ended. Collings Foundation has another late-production bird that is also a regular on the air show circuit. The foundation’s bird is nicknamed “Nine O Nine,” in honor of a legendary B-17 that completed 140 combat missions without an abort or loss of a single crewman.
You might have seen one of those B-17s at the Atlanta air show. It was definintely not the original “Memphis Belle”
Yes, I also bought and built that model B-17.
One of about 15 models we had overhead in the boy’s bedroom.
Nope, it was another 17 painted as a look alike. The real one hasn’t flown since 1946.
God Bless him.
” Moving around made you a harder target to hit. The only time they tried to fly completely level was when the bomb bay doors opened.”
Thats early in the war. Curtis Lemay proved that evasive maneuvering was of little value compared to tight formation flying allowing massed gunfire. Also the bombing results were atrocious during the evasive action era.
If you can, be sure to get the bus to tour the back shops. That’s where they work on restoring the planes and equipment. IIRC there was one of Saddam’s buried Mig-29s stashed back there, too.
Are you sure that wasn’t Aluminum Overcast?
I don’t think the Memphis Belle has been in flying condition for decades. Last time I saw it, it was on static display near Memphis.
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