This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Oct. 9, 2012 - The B-17 bomber Memphis Belle will be buzzing around the skies in St. Louis Oct. 14 as a part of its first national tour, operated by the Liberty Foundation. The plane will take nine people up at a time for a half hour flight, and provide a tiny insight to what the World War II bomber pilots and crew did.
On Oct. 8, this reporter went up in a press flight, a 15-minute demo of what the paying passengers might experience this coming Sunday.
For a nervous flyer, the time the Belle spent taxiing up the runway was a little unsettling, but unnecessarily so. After a few wobbles as the bomber gained altitude, the rest of the ride was as smooth as any modern aircraft could make it. After climbing to 2,000 feet, the press members were allowed to move around the interior of the B-17. Everywhere, except for the tail gunner position, was open for people to explore in mid-flight.
While the bomber’s limited space doesn't offer a lot of headroom for anyone taller than 5-foot, the plane gives a multitude of viewpoints for passengers to look down onto St. Louis. Even though I have looked at the Arch and the Mississippi through countless 747 windows, seeing the city and county through the old Plexiglas of a 60-year-old bomber was mesmerizing. It felt like being in a movie where a WW II plane and crew are whisked to the future, to gasp and point at everything that is different from how they know it.
The loud buzz of the four engines gets filed away as background noise after a few minutes. Unlike the commercial airliners, the B-17 isn’t sealed and pressurized, and the experiences feels raw, compared to the crisp and ordered atmosphere of a jumbo jet.
The windows range from the typical rounded viewport to the bombardier’s position, at the very nose of the plane. Some on our flight emitted little exclamations as they had crawled through the access hatch to reach it. Once in the compartment, I found two Browning M2 machine guns directly to the right and left. Through the glass, the engines can be seen mere feet away. Directly ahead is the bombardiers’ chair and controls, and past that is the large rounded bubble that offers a 180-degree line of sight. Obviously the good view was intended for the bombers to see targets clearer, but the big clear dome gives a; view in all directions, even directly below the plane.
To reach the rear of the plane, passengers have to walk through the bomb bay, which is trickier than it sounds. A small walkway that is less than a foot wide connects the front and rear of the plane. On either side sits a mock bomb on top of the bay doors. The only stability when walking across this path comes from two ropes strung the length of the bay.
This B-17 is known as the “movie” Memphis Belle and was used in the 1990 movie named after the original WW II bomber. The original Belle was the first B-17to finish its 25-mission tour of duty. Despite being heavily damaged multiple times, it brought its crew back unharmed each time. In 1990, when the movie “Memphis Belle” was made, the plane used by the Liberty Foundation was reconfigured to match the original bomber.
Members of the Liberty Foundation pilot and maintain the aircraft on the runway. David Alderman, the crew chief, said, to fly an aircraft like the B-17, a pilot needs a lot of experience with multiple engine aircraft and have an endorsement that allows them to fly planes with a tail wheel.
Alderman said that a main goal of the tour is to acknowledge the sacrifices and struggles WW II veterans made. In addition to taking heavy anti-aircraft fire, the crews had to face extremely low temperatures, frostbite and high altitudes. Alderman also said that recognizing the creation, design and service of the aircraft themselves and keeping people interested in aviation plays a part in the tour.
“The enthusiasm of aviation is not there,” Alderman said. “I’ve seen it kind of just fall off over the years. People don’t appreciate these aircraft and how they were real crucial in the advancement of aviation.”
To arrange a flight on the Memphis Belle, call 918-340-0243. Tickets are $410 for members of the Liberty Foundation, and $450 for non-members. All proceeds go to the costs of keeping the Belle operational.