Flying Fortress Tour

[SaxMan]

Has anyone ever made an attempt to visit every extant B-17 airframe in the United States? Personally, I think that would make for a great "bucket list" trip. Unfortunately, unless I hit the Powerball, I still probably have close to 20 years of work ahead of me before I could retire and do this.

The way I see it, I'm thinking that I would attempt this on the 100th Anniversary of the Flying Fortress' first flight in 2035. Anyone want to join me? Double points if we did the tour in a similar vintage automobile -- late 1930s or early 1940s vintage.

Just curious -- how many Fortresses have you seen? Here's my list

Texas Raiders
Nine-O-Nine
Shoo Shoo Baby (at NMUSAF)
Movie Memphis Belle
Sentimental Journey
Fuddy Duddy
Yankee Lady
Aluminum Overcast

Obviously, I've done pretty well with the flyers, but am a bit on the short side with the static ones (only one!)

[TAdan]

Fun topic, I'd love to do a B-17 tour. I think Mustangdriver may have done something similar...

As for me, I've seen the following.

(Movie) Memphis Belle
Memphis Belle
Shoo shoo Baby
Yankee Lady (took a flight)
Sentimental Journey
Aluminum Overcast
Piccadilly Lilly
9-0-9
The Swoose
Fuddy Duddy

[mustangdriver]

My all time favorite aircraft. There is just something about the '17. I have been very fortunate to be involved with a B-17 in one way or another since being a kid. I have travelled a good bit and am only missing two. I need to get the Lackland and Dyess birds and I will have them all. The last three years I have been very fortunate to be a part of the EAA "Aluminum Overcast" team. We work hard to get veterans one last flight in the B-17 and in many cases bring a loved one with them. It has been a huge honor and something I will forever be proud of. I couldn't do this without the support of my wife who is always in my corner and with me on these trips. This year we celebrated 5 years married by renewing our vows at Oshkosh. We were delivered to the small ceremony in the B-17.

Last edited by mustangdriver on Sat Aug 15, 2015 3:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[K5DH]

B-17s... what a great topic for discussion!

I know that visiting every existing B-17 in every museum around the world is out of the question, so I've set my sights on something perhaps a bit more realistic: taking a ride on every flying B-17.

Been there, done that:
Chuckie (many times as a crew member)
Nine-O-Nine (several times as a tour stop volunteer)
Aluminum Overcast
Liberty Belle
Texas Raiders

Still to go:
Yankee Lady
Thunderbird
Sentimental Journey (toured her at tour stop once, but that doesn't count!)
Movie Memphis Belle
Fuddy Duddy
Sally B
and any others that take flight in the future!

Wish me luck, especially regarding Sally B... a trip to England doesn't seem likely...

Last edited by K5DH on Sun Aug 16, 2015 9:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[warbirdguy]

Static Fortresses
Miss Liberty Belle

Flying Fortresses
Nine-o-Nine
Fuddy Duddy
Aluminum Overcast
Yankee Lady
Movie Memphis Belle
Sentimental Journey
Liberty Belle (before forced landing)
Texas Raiders
Thunderbird

[Chris Brame]

I've seen eleven of them:
Texas Raiders 44-83872
Aluminum Overcast 44-85740
Piccadilly Lilly II 44-83684
Preston's Pride 44-85738
Fuddy Duddy 44-83563
Miss Angela 44-85778
Nine-O-Nine 44-83575
Return to Glory (now Starduster) 44-6393
Lacey Lady 44-85790
Sentimental Journey 44-83514
Movie Memphis Belle 44-83546

ETA: Now twelve as of 2018 - add Memphis Belle 41-24485 - all I could see was the fin and rudder (the exhibit hadn't opened yet), but by golly I saw it!

ETA again as of October 2021: Add Ye Olde Pub 44-8543 and Thunderbird 44-85718 to the list. 14!*

*I've also seen the few items that remain of 42-102875: Pilot reports, the radio and a few instruments. So 14.001?

Last edited by Chris Brame on Thu Oct 21, 2021 8:28 pm, edited 6 times in total.

[Pat Carry]

Speaking of the Memphis Belle in Dayton, any idea when the NMUSAF will be done with the restoration job? The last I heard it was sometime in 2017. Any further info?

[kalamazookid]

Great topic! Here's my list:

Grissom Air Museum- seen it in at least two different schemes that I can remember
Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby
Yankee Lady
Nine-O-Nine (flew on- thanks to warbirdguy!)
Aluminum Overcast
Movie Memphis Belle
Chuckie
Texas Raiders
Sentimental Journey
Liberty Belle
Thunderbird
Champaign Lady- not sure if that counts since it's in pieces
Fuddy Duddy

Last edited by kalamazookid on Sun Aug 16, 2015 7:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Matt Gunsch]

Here is my list and where I saw them
Sentimental Journey
Picadilly Lily II, Chino, CA
Chuckie, Fort Worth, TX
909, fire bomber and Warbird Mesa AZ
I'll Be Around, Tucson AZ
Preston's Pride Tulare CA
Lacy Lady, Milwaukee OR
Boeing Bee, fire bomber and Warbird, Mesa AZ
Yankee Lady, fire bomber Mesa AZ
Fuddy Duddy, fire bomber Mesa AZ
Miss Angela, Santa Monica
City of Savannah, Tucson AZ
Texas Raiders,Sedona AZ
Aluminum Overcast, Oshkosh WI
Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby Dayton OH
Shady Lady, fire bomber and Warbird Marana AZ
Short Beir Ogden UT
Thunderbird, Oshkosh WI
King Bee SAC Museum
Liberty Belle Mesa AZ
Return To Glory Riverside CA
Memphis Belle, Phoenix AZ

[SaxMan]

Interesting...the one B-17 that made everyone's list is Sentimental Journey. Looks like Matt has us all eating his dust...21 Fortresses. Wow.

Texas Raiders was the first B-17 I ever saw in person. I've seen Nine-O-Nine the most times.

I don't know if the Boeing 307 at Udvar-Hazy should get an honorable mention, since it has a lot of Fortress components.

It is interesting that most of us have seen more flyers than static B-17s. I guess that shows how truly effective the Warbird tours truly are.

[JohnB]

I've seen about 25 of the survivors, including all three in the UK and several statics at USAF bases: Lackland, Dyess, Beale/Offutt (outdoors not the SAC museum), Grissom, Dover, 3 at W-P. and the expected airshow aircraft: the CAFs, 909, Movie MB, EAAs, Collings; plus Chuckie, Evergreen, Pima, Champaign, Chino, Kermit Weeks's (immediate after Hurricane Andrew blew it across the airport), MoF, Yankee Air Force.
I flew in Texas Raiders...a cross country no less!
First one I ever saw was 909 when it was in storage in 1976. The photo I took of it is published in the latest edition of Final Cut.

My non-airshow record: 5 in two days....4 of which I'd never seen before.

My notes show I saw the Evergreen ship, and The Movie Memphis Belle when they were fire fighters in 1979...plus one other (I didn't get an ID of).

I need to see the Hill and SAC museum aircraft, as well as the March and Castle aircraft soon, along with the Tulare, CA example.
No excuse for missing those. Of yes, the Oregon gas station ship is close, but I don't know how much you can see these days.

[lmritger]

This is a fun thread! And echoing another poster, it's a pretty cool way to demonstrate the reach of warbird tours.

In museums:
The Swoose
Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby
Miss Angela
the Evergreen ship
Champaign Gal
Gremlin's Hideout (when the Eglin AFB Armament Museum example was marked as such)
EDIT: Forgot about Piccadilly Lilly II at Chino!

Flying:
Chuckie
Aluminum Overcast (flew in it with Lt. Dick Johnson, 303rd BG- thanks again Chris!)
Movie Memphis Belle (flew in it)
Sentimental Journey
Liberty Belle
Fuddy Duddy
909
Texas Raiders (at the VE Day Flyover)


15, of which I've flown in two... that's not too shabby, I suppose.

Lynn

[Pat Carry]

This is a fun thread! And echoing another poster, it's a pretty cool way to demonstrate the reach of warbird tours.

In museums:
The Swoose
Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby
Miss Angela
the Evergreen ship
Champaign Gal
Gremlin's Hideout (when the Eglin AFB Armament Museum example was marked as such)
EDIT: Forgot about Piccadilly Lilly II at Chino!

Flying:
Chuckie
Aluminum Overcast (flew in it with Lt. Dick Johnson, 303rd BG- thanks again Chris!)
Movie Memphis Belle (flew in it)
Sentimental Journey
Liberty Belle
Fuddy Duddy
909
Texas Raiders (at the VE Day Flyover)


15, of which I've flown in two... that's not too shabby, I suppose.

Lynn

I remember seeing the Evergreen B-17 when it was airworthy and made a few appearances at Oshkosh. I saw Miss Angela at its then home in Minnesota

[Steve Nelson]

Let's see....

Texas Raiders was the first B-17 I ever saw in real life, in 1977.

I've flown on Fuddy Duddy and Aluminum Overcast.

The rest, as best I can recall and in no particular order:

The "old" NMUSAF B-17 (now at Dover)
Nine-O-Nine
Yankee Lady
Swoose
Memphis Belle (Real)
Memphis Belle (Movie)
Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby
Liberty Belle
Miss Liberty Belle
Chuckie
Thunderbird
Sentimental Journey
I'll Be Around (Pima)
USAF Armament Museum
Suzy Q (disassembled storage)
Picadilly Princess (The walk-through at Fantasy of Flight.)
SAC Museum
City Of Savannah
My Gal Sal (restored but in disassembled stoarage at Blue Ash)

I think that's all I've personally seen, but I may be forgetting one or two. I've always been a B-24 fan, and my personal "bucket list" has been to see every surviving airframe in North America (including four nose sections on display in various musems.) I think I only have three left: Castle, Barksdale and Hill AFB..that's not counting wrecks in the Aleutians, Alaska or Canada.

SN

[mustangdriver]

Well to list them out, I have;

B-17D Swoose-NMUSAF
B-17 E Desert Rat-IL
B-17E Swamp Ghost (while at Chino)
B-17EOur Gal Sal
B-17F Boeing Bee- MOF
B-17F Memphis Belle-NMUSAF
B-17F Homesick Angel- Offut AFB
B-17G Nine O Nine- Pittsburgh rebuild
B-17G "Movie Belle" Pittsburgh mtc
B-17G Texas Raiders Pittsburgh MTC
B-17G Sentimental Journey CAF
B-17G Aluminum Overcast-currently on team
B-17G Chuckie
B-17G Picadilly Primcess- Weeks
B-17G Short Beir-Hill AFB
B-17G Ball of Fire-Weks
B-17G Gremlins Hideout- Eglin
B-17G Starduster-March AFB
B-17G Sleepy Time Gal- Dover AFB
B-17G Miss Liberty Belle-Grissom
B-17G Liberty Belle
B-17G Yankee Doodle II/ Liberty Belle- Barksdale AFB
B-17G virgins Delight- Castle AFB
B-17G Prestons Pride- CA
B-17G PicadillyLilly-POF
B-17G I'll Be Around- PIMA
B-17G King Bee- SAC Museum
B-17G Shady Lady-Evergreen
B-17G Lacy Lady- Milwaukee, OR
B-17G Thunderbird- Lonestar
B-17G Yankee Lady
B-17G Fuddy Duddy
B-17GCity of Savannah
B-17 Miss Angelina- Palm Springs
B-17GShoo Shoo Baby-NMUSAF
B-17G Champaign Lady


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