In 1987, a canopied exhibit site funded through public donations was dedicated on Mud Island, where the plane remained until being moved to a former Navy facility in Millington in 2003.
Rosey and I attended the dedication and, more importantly, the fly-in at West Memphis airport, when all of the B-17s still airworthy (9 of them if I recall correctly) came in and then went out to fly in formation in a salute over Mud Island. The throaty roar of all those Wright Cyclone engines was something to experience.
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the only B17s extant, that ever saw wartime (combat) service, are all at the national museum of the us air force, dayton,ohio. swoose(B17D),memphis belle(B17E) and shoo shoo baby(B17G).
this according to the museum, tho, I know there are B17E models in existence, so is the museum correct?
when memphis and swoose are finished, shoo shoo will depart and go back to the smithsonian.
I bet when that occurs, there will be a big photo shoot of all three in line up.
moving planes in and out is always a big deal.
then the shoo shoo will fly away, probably forever.
I remember years ago when shoo shoo flew into dayton.
Thanks for the update on the Belle it is a real icon Battlefield survivor and saved by the public
just about the only E model left IIRC
I don't know what version the Sho-Sho Baby is
wait..millington is a "former" naval facility?
when the hell did that happen? damn I was there only...DAMMIT!
that was 25 years ago. damn. I suppose a lot can happen in 25 years.
I wonder what they're doing with it now.
In the mid 50's the Miami area had one of several Med-fly infestations which was dealt with by early morning and late evening spraying of malathion laced bait. The spraying was done with converted B-17 and B-24 aircraft. I remember those planes making repeated tree-top passes and the thunder of those engines. Many years later we were able to tour a B-17 named "Aluminum Overcast" at an airshow held at Opa-Locka airport.
As the aircraft and men who flew them dwindle in number its important that we remember what they did and how they shaped our current world for the better.
was our own "Sally B" there?
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