Coulda been The War Lover.
Come to think of it, there was a B-17 in “The High and the Mighty” - one the Coast Guard was going to use to drop a lifeboat at the DC-4’s planned ditching location. My apologies!
The Commemorative Air Force (formerly Confederate) has just put its own restored B-24 out on the circuit, after converting it back from a transport configuration. That makes 2.
That might have been me. I started a Ship of Theseus thread.
NB: I’ve found out that the ‘scratch-built Spitfire’ the woman in England was building is a non-flying replica. I was under the wrong impression.
Replica!! I was trying to think of that word for my last post.
Email them again. The restoration section is next to the Annex where they keep the presidential planes on one side and stuff like the XB-70 and YF-12A on the other. Those buses run at 30 minute intervals (you must return after 30 minutes). You might be able to catch one of these buses with advance notice.
If you don’t go on the tour I would recommend you focus on the WW-II section of the museum or the early flight section. The WW-II section has stuff like Me-262, the 163 with an example of of the 2 stage rocket engine, a V1, a V2, German air to air wire guided missile, a Japanese Cherry Blossom, Ju88’s, Mosquitos, the B-29 “Bock’s Car”, P-61 Black Widow, B-17, B-24, B-25, Spitfires, German submarine sail-copters… lots of cool stuff.
Thanks for the thought, but I won’t do that. The emails were about getting me on the waiting list in advance, because they normally start taking names as soon as they open that day, and I won’t be arriving until very near the start time of the tour. It doesn’t seem reasonable to me to start asking for special arrangements with buses when I’m still unsure whether I’ll even get in on the tour.
I’m glad to hear the “Belle” is being restored. Long before it was neglected on Mud Island, it was neglected on the lawn of the Memphis National Guard Armory on Central. I still remember my Daddy helping me up into the cockpit of the old gal, when I was just a lil WW2 plane buff. I even have a “special” connection with the Belle’s nose art–I just can’t really go into it here. Any of ya’ll that aren’t really interested in the old planes; watch the ultimate B-17 film, “12 O’Clock High”. You might find yourself astounded. The stock footage in that film is breathtaking. The initial scenes of Dean Jagger at the abandoned airfield (which was actually an old WW2 airfield in Florida) is outstanding. Of course, you could also watch the doc of the “Memphis Belle”, as well as the fictionalized movie starring Matthew Modine. Thanks for the update!
Do. It’s the last one left on earth.
Unfortunately the website doesn’t say whether it is being restored to its original original state as a combat bomber, or to its later WWII state as the personal transport of General Brett. I hope it’s the former.
According to the Warbird Information Exchange, a new gun tub is being built for the SWOOSE, so it will be in bomber configuration. When the MEMPHIS BELLE is finished, it will take SHOO SHOO SHOO BABYs place and SHOO SHOO SHOO BABY will go to the Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian at Dulles Airport.
Some early war years research on frequency control devices was conducted at Wright-Patterson; they used to have a display dedicated to that endeavor. I visited there for the frequency control stuff but toured the airplane museum as well. It is a remarkable contribution to history and I completely enjoyed the experience. Long time ago, now.
The Udvar-Hazy Center already has large parts of a B-17 on display. Does anybody know where?
The SMithsonian had two b-17s the swoose and a B-17g in storage. They made a deal with the USAF musuem. The swoose goes to Dayton. The B-17g was sent to Savannah Georgia to the Eighth air force museum. It is undergoing restoration to static display. The Smithsonian gets SHOO SHOO SHOO BABY when the MEMPHIS BELLE And Swoose finish their restoration.
To keep track of B-17s comings and going I recommend www.aerovintage.com which keeps track of these things.
I know. And the Udvar-Hazy Center already has a Boeing 307 (the first pressurized airliner) on display, and it has the same wings and tail as the B-17.
Before the U-H was created, the Air & Space Museum used to give tours of its storage facility in the Washington suburbs. (It wasn’t really publicized, and it was just a couple small groups per day.) I took that tour in the summer of '01 and saw some amazing stuff, including the Swoose. Things were stored wherever there was room; the fuselage was in the middle of the floor, the wings were against one of the walls.
At the Imperial War Museum in London I saw a Spitfire and it seemed small enough. Then I saw a Sopwith Camel.
Speaking of the Memphis Belle, I got to spend some unsupervised time in the Boeing Bee, a B-17G that appeared as the Kathleen in the movie. It was in flyable condition when acquired by the Museum of Flight a few years ago and supposedly still is. It and some other goodies were stashed in Boeing’s plant 2 which is now scheduled to be demolished. Took a few pictures here.