History Memphis Belle restoration

The guys working on the B-17, Champaign Girl are an incredible group, you will love the tour they give . I'm posting a picture taken a few days ago celebrating the Doolittle Raid on Japan at the beginning of WWII, a gathering of 16 B-25's from all over the country arrived at the Champaign Aviation Museum, Urbana, OH. I love this pic!!

 

Many many Thanks to all of you military service personnel in our great nation. A good, good friend of mine shared many personal experiences of his from the beginning of the Army Air Core to his placement on a B17-F.
Technical Sgt. Richard Paxton , a West Virginia native, my pal"****" as we knew him was as interesting & intelligent of colorful of anyone I ever met. **** past last year at 91 & I am turning 45 tomorrow , but he was as full of life as anyone I ever met. Learned a lot from **** who has two lovely daughters & his son had past earlier , but his sons best friend & him were close. Out of all the stories I had heard, not once did I bother to ask ****, a very humble fellow, what the planes name was. Months later the sons friend came in my small business & asked me if I knew **** was a member of the famous aircraft? "No !" I replied. So I googled The "Berlin Sleeper II" & looked at all of the various crews' accomplishments , even finding it on YouTube in war ads on video. And I found sure enough ****'s name listed as the Technical Sergeant toward the end of that old war birds career! Wow, how I miss him , well over 40 years between our ages but you sure wouldn't know it ....was a great man. As I open my old SK toolbox, I see a picture of the ol' Berlin Sleeper II in flight & that will always remain there, reminding me of what a wonderful friend I had the pleasure of knowing and what they all gave for our country & what that plane meant to those who flew & worked on it. Flux

 

Truly impressed with all the replies
Guess we all share a love for these, as well as, Hot Rods
Pops was a weather man in Burma India 1944-45 Pictured on the left, next to his buddy William Manz, whom just p***ed away last year. [emoji53]
Both Studied right here in Orlando 1943 at Orlando Air Force Base
Surely played a part in the flight of these aircraft


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The story of the Belle's deterioration is in stark contrast to the restoration effort.
When I moved to Memphis in 1984 , the Belle was parked outside, on an apron at the Air Guard facility, left to the elements and vandals. It was eventually moved downtown next to the river at Mud Island, but in an open air pavilion/museum, which only kept the rain off. After several decades of further deterioration, there was a noble but underfunded private attempt to build a museum, housing it on the edge of Memphis, but that never got beyond site preparation. With little future in sight, the USAF finally stepped in and took control, dis***embled her and moved her to Dayton. Much longer and it would have been lost, hardly a fitting tribute to this veteran.

 

I first saw the Belle in the mid 50's mounted on a pedestal at the entrance to the A.F reserve/ ANG base at what was the main gate at that time. I was a 10 year old visiting with my Dad who was full time with the TN ANG.

Later on it was moved to the edge of the airport to a restaurant parking lot. I think it was still there when I was in that unit of the ANG 1965-1971 but my memory is not too clear on that. I suppose it went downtown from there. I did not know anymore about it until the Air Force reclaimed it and it was in the news again.

 

I get to see the WWII war planes come in at the airport I work a on a regular basis as they show up for display at McCallister museum or one of the fixed base operations at the airport.
Dad flew in B25's in the south Pacific in WWII and sported the 25 Mission crush on his hat when he came back.
My ding dong ex brother in law evidently threw out Dad's journal that he kept during WWII after dad p***ed away thinking it was just one of the old books on his book shelf as my sister can't find it.

 

My uncle whom I am named after, was a flight engineer on a B17 based in England during WWII.
He p***ed away about 5 years ago at 92, I went to his 90th Bday party and really got to sit down and quiz him about his war days.
He could still remember everything about those bombers, fuel loads and consumption, what they burned on average getting into formation, the list of things he recalled was endless.
He also stated that they could make Swiss Cheese out of a 17, and as long as nothing vital was hit she'd still fly home.

He also gave thanks for how lucky he really was to have survived the war, and gave a lot of credit because he flew with a top notch crew and Lady Luck. So glad I got to talk with him before he p***ed on, he told me the 17's name but damned if I can remember.

 

I do believe that a lot of the Wright Cyclone engines were made by Studebaker.
If I'm not mistaken, a few years ago, Ed Reynolds bought the old B-17 Engine Dyno LAB in South Bend, & moved all of the old SASCO parts into it, along w/a lot of other parts from his other Stude business. Got to tour it, but no B-17 stuff there. Still, glad to see that part of history saved.
Marcus...

 

Salute!



High Noon Speed Shop - Baltic, Ohio
My Blog: https://ontheroadtonowhereville.wordpress.com/

 

Interesting.

Might have been the second B-17 in the 94th to be called 'Stud Duck'.

This is a link to a photo of a B-17F of the 94th, called Stud Duck, but its not Daffy Duck in the artwork. It looks like this earlier F model might have been replaced by a later G model and also called Stud Duck with slightly different artwork, which may have been the the one your Dad flew on...?

http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/5150

There was also a B-26 Marauder of the 17th BG, which was called 'Stud Duck' as well and that used Daffy Duck in the nose art.

 

My Dad arrived in England on August 16th 1944 to begin his 25 Missions with the 94th. Bomb Group 331st. Squadron. I have his "My Life in the Service" diary, in it are notes about the Missions, like " heavy flack today", the bullet holes from German Fighters, seeing a Buddies Plane go down. Reading through it almost puts you in the Plane with those Guys. His B17 had a picture of Daffy Duck on the nose, it was the "Stud Duck".

 

Thanks to GeeRam for setting me straight on the Duck, It was not Daffy, just a Duck that looks more like a Goose!! I dug out some old Pictures and he was right, musta had Daffy on the brain!! My Apologies.

 

I have a pic I took of that plane in '92 when I was working out there.

 

She's still there. A few years back a semi tried to take the off ramp too fast and crashed into her wing but it was repaired. I think she was spruced up a bit at the time too.


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Here she is. Needs some sprucing up again.


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Oh....!
Is that photo in the link I posted your's Dad's B-17 then....!!??

That's a real....WOW.....if so

The dates for your Dad being over put him with the 94th when they were flying out of RAF Bury St.Edmunds, now known as Rougham Airfield, and the original control tower for the base is preserved and has been turned into a great little museum. There used to be an annual 1940's style event held there, and the museum did have its own website, but clicking on the link now sends you to a domain provider.........so, I'm not sure what the current situation is with the place. I'll investigate further via a UK vintage aviation forum I sometimes frequent.

Here's a recent-ish aerial photo of the museum site.

 

This is really cool. One has to ***ume that the one off flights in a different plane that fall within a list of multiple flights in the same one must have been due to service or combat damage being repaired.

 

You guys are right- if anyone gets a chance, take a flight! Several years ago I got a flight for my dad and me. We flew in "Grumpy", a B25. On startup it was barking and snapping and blasting flames out of the pipes and a young guy in the back (with twin-engine credentials, so no novice) was looking nervously out the window and asking " shouldn't someone tell the pilot? Should it be doing that?" It was pretty funny. My dad's gone now and that is probably one of my best memories of him smiling and giving me thumbs up after standing up in the top turret.

 

Couple of pics of Sentimental Journay when it came to Tri-Cities. Ponied up the $$ for the ride, but crew discovered a serious fuel line leak behind a bulkhead and the flight was scrubbed just as we were climbing in. Probably a good thing. LOL!

 

B24J Liberator last one flying


B25 Mitchell


B17G

 

Hah.....yes, B-25's are real hot rods. I flew a trip in the Collings Foundation B-25 when it coincided with a trip to California some 10 years ago. The banging noise the exhausts made while idling sounded like someone outside banging on the fuselage sides with a big lump hammer...!!!
I flew in their B-17G later the same day, and that was a relatively quiet, sedate grand old lady compared with the B-25.

 

A couple of friends and I flew in Sentimental Journey a few years ago when it was in nearby Elkhart, and I did not miss the opportunity to ride in FiFi last July when it was here in So. Bend. I sat at the navigator's table, like my dad had done on B-29s. Unforgettable.

 

I served as an aircraft maintenance Instructor at Chanute AFI in Rantoul Illinois from 1970 through 1972. One of the civilian instructors was a retired flight engineer from WWII through the early '60's. His name was R.A. "red" Stuart. Mr. Stuart flew B-17s in the war. He later participated on several flight test program including the XC-99. I spent three incredible years listening to Mr. Stuart tell us about his experiences, especially the B-17 years. Sometimes we wondered about some of the stories he told until one day another instructors brought a book to work that he had just bought. The book was ***led B-17 Stratofortress, and low and behold, a**** many other pictures was a group shot of the flight crew that Mr. Stuart was part of, with him smiling right in the middle of the back row. In the legend below he is listed as R.A. "Red" Stuart flight engineer. The shot was taken just before taking off for a bombing mission over Germany. It was a true honor to serve with him for those three years. He never once bragged about himself or his role. An incredible man, truly one of our greatest generation. The fellow that owned he book and I have remained best friends since and often speak with excited reverence about Mr. Stuart. sometimes we get lucky and this was one of the best for me.

 

That is correct..... this is the last flying B-24 Liberator! The movie trailer is: http://www.thelastliberator.com/



Imagine it's 1944.......



High Noon Speed Shop - Baltic, Ohio

 

My brother in law piloted a B-25 in the Pacific theater for 57 missions before returning home in 1943, he gave me his sweat stained hat, I was proud to have it at 11 years old. He was in the 5th Air Force.

 

Thanks to everybody for this thread, the pics, and especially the stories.
I get cold chills just thinking about these stories.

 

That's a B-25G, with the 75mm cannon in the nose - cool

 

One thing that always amazed me was the huge numbers of planes they would get in the air. Approximately 1,250 bombers in the air during the largest bombing missions over Germany, plus several hundred fighter planes as ******.

It was a banner day when we were able to get all 15 or so choppers in the air from our company at the same time when I was in the .mil, and represented a huge amount of effort and long days and countless hours on the weekends on the part of maintenance personnel and test pilots. All I can say is simply to get that sheer number of planes in the air, all at the same time is nothing short of astonishing. Pilots rightly take the limelight but there was an awful lot going on behind the scenes to make something like that happen.