I Hear Chuckie's Gonna Fly

[warbird1]

Man, Mahaffey looks PO'd!

PS Kudos to the crew for making Chuckie's return to the air happen!

You would be too, if somebody was taking "your" plane away.

[Pat]

You would be too, if somebody was taking "your" plane away.

This I know; I worked on it with Mr. Mahaffey a few times myself...

[Ztex]

Nah...Pat was just concetrating on the job at hand!
Thanks all for the kinf words...but all I did was just stand there and pull the trigger...the subject was the good part!
WOOT

[K5DH]

What a great day! Chuckie flew twice today. Both flights, Ray Fowler was PIC. First flight, SIC was Pat Mahaffey. Second flight, SIC was Steve Swift. Crew Chief Bill Gorin was FE on both flights. The pilots reported that the '17 flew perfectly and there were no squawks from either flight. She was a little hard to start this morning (the temperature was about 38 deg F at startup!) but she got over that morning crankiness and fought off the cold like the trooper she is! Kudos to the ground crew for spending hours outside in the cold and wind. The temperature eventually warmed up to the upper 40s by the end of the day, but that north wind was pretty much relentless all day.

It was indescribably satisfying to watch the '17 roar down that runway and into the blue Texas sky for the first time since February, 2008. The VFM crew has worked very, very hard for a long time in order to get the B-17 back into flying condition, and today's flights were made possible only through the outstanding teamwork, commitment, and dedication of a lot of hard-working volunteers, led by our crew chief, Bill Gorin, and our hangar boss, John Frasier. Some of our folks are professional aviation mechanics and pilots. Some of us are just wanna-be's who happen to know which end of a screwdriver to hold. But we all shared a common vision, and together, we made it a reality! If the temperature had been a few degrees colder when those tires un-stuck from Runway 34R this morning, there would have been ice cubes falling from peoples' eyes instead of teardrops (and there were plenty of those).

It was a real pleasure to meet Jerry Yagen. He is a really nice fellow, and there's no doubt in my mind that he will take excellent care of our beloved B-17. I had flown with Ray Fowler before aboard Liberty Belle. As someone else mentioned, he's a superb pilot and a good guy. Ray has flown probably all of the '17s that are airworthy today at one time or another. He sure knows how to handle a Flying Fortress!

Zane is a much better photog than I am, and he was shooting with a real camera as opposed to my pocket point 'n shoot, but here are some of my shots:















Carl Best flew in from McKinney in his shiny yeller AT-6. His ship served as an A2A photo platform during the second flight. Jerry Yagen was in the back seat shooting pics of the '17 in flight. Here are a couple of shots of the Six:





Here's a very satisfied (and thoroughly chilled) Jerry after the photo flight:



Here's a shot of an elated bunch of ground and flight crew members! (thanks for taking the picture, Carl!)
From the left: Ray Fowler, Dean Hemphill, John Frasier Jr, Mike Tolfa, John Frasier Sr, Brian Gorin, James Flair, Bill Gorin, Chuckie Hospers, Pat Mahaffey, Steve Swift, and Jerry Yagen.



Oh, and there was this character hanging around, too. . .



And finally, to everyone who has supported us. . . THANKS!!!

Dean the elated!

[pmahaffey]

Man, Mahaffey looks PO'd!

PS Kudos to the crew for making Chuckie's return to the air happen!

You would be too, if somebody was taking "your" plane away.

Funny how one snap shot makes you look. I was jumping for joy the whole day. My only regret is that Doc wasn't here (in body, I know he was here in spirit) to share in our joy.

Patrick Mahaffey
B-17 "Chuckie"

[warbird1]

Wow, bittersweet day for everyone involved. Many thanks to everyone who helped keep Chuckie flying all of these years. I'll never forget the first time I saw Chuckie flying in about '79 or so and the many airshows since. Way to go everyone! Congrats to the outgoing and incoming crews, your hard work and dedication is much appreciated! Fortunately, she has a bright future ahead to look forward to!

[SPANNERmkV]

OUTSTANDING everybody involved!

I am so glad I got to meet everybody at the B17 Co-op and see the VFM and tour Chuckie.

Sierra Hotel Bill!!!!

SPANNER

[the330thbg]

F-N FANTASTIC

Congrats guys!!! Your hard work, blood, sweat and tears has paid off!!

Now to move her to the new home.

[Nathan]

I feel very bad to those who worked so hard on her. Congrats. The only comforting thing I can add is that Jerry Yeagan will look after her 110%. I am sure she will be the center peice of the museum in VA.

[TimAPNY]

Great work getting "Chuckie" back in the air! Looks like a great cool day for the flight.

Tim

[CrewDawg]

Oh, and there was this character hanging around, too. . .



And finally, to everyone who has supported us. . . THANKS!!!

Dean the elated!

Just goes to show you, TSA has a ways to go! Just kidding, thanks again Zane for coming out, you got some of the best shots's I've seen! It's been over 24 hours and I still can't wipe the grin from my face!!

To everyone who is feeling sorry for those of us on the crew, please don't. We have had the most incredible time making yesterday happen. I have been an aircraft mechanic for over 20 years and yesterday was the absolute pinnacle of my career. I probably will never have the opportunity again to be involved with such an incredible airplane, owned by the most incredible family, and to work with the best crew ever! Yes, there were a lot of tense moments and an incredible amount of stress, but when I felt those wheels leave the runway, it was all worth it, none of it mattered anymore. WE HAVE DONE IT! I heard a lot of people over the last few years say that she would never fly again, to those people I say !

Yes, we wish that we could keep her, but truth is, she's going to the best possible home. I have had many conversations with Mr. Yagen and he genuinely loves aviation and it's history. He's in it because he loves it, not because there's any money in it. He said several times, "There's no money in this", so why else would someone spend millions of dollars on these airplanes? Because he loves it and he wants to pay tribute to those who fought for our freedoms. He is going to do all the things that we at the VFM always wished we could do, but never had the time or resources to do. I personally can't wait to see her on the air show circuit next year. I'm already making plans to go to the Military Aviation Musuem's air show in May.

Thank you Doc and Chuckie for allowing me to work on your plane.

[CAPFlyer]

Congrats on getting her up and going. I hope to be at DFW on Friday with Civil Air Patrol and get to say hi to you guys and goodbye to 'Chuckie'.

Carl Best flew in from McKinney in his shiny yeller AT-6. His ship served as an A2A photo platform during the second flight. Jerry Yagen was in the back seat shooting pics of the '17 in flight. Here are a couple of shots of the Six:

Wow, Carl now has 3 T-6's. He's got quite a collection. That's definitely a very nice looking bird and paint scheme.

[CrewDawg]

Just a quick update. We will be taking off from Meacham around 3 pm on Thursday and heading over to DFW for the DFW Expo Career Fair. http://www.dfwcareerexpo.com/about.php They are expecting over 4000 kids! The Expo gives students from Dallas, Fort Worth and the neighboring communities an opportunity to learn about careers in a variety of aviation and transportation fields — from piloting a plane to managing a rail line and responding to emergencies.
We will be returning from DFW to Meacham around 2 or 3 in the afternoon on Friday, so get your camera's ready! There won't be too many more opportunities to see Chuckie over the skies of North Texas before she heads to her new home in Virginia in January. I have a good hunch though that we'll see her back visiting once in a while though.

[lmritger]

Absolutely beautiful... there is something almost achingly beautiful about a perfect, crisp, cloudless winter sky and the Fortress looked absolutely at home in those photos. Speaking as one who'll be out to see her as frequently as possible once she's up here, I am absolutely thrilled she's going to be in Va Beach, but that's tinged with the realization that this has only been made possible through an untold amount of sweat, toil, tears and blood on the part of Doc and the rest of the VFM crew over the years. To them I say again- THANK YOU. You have all done an amazing job, and should NEVER stop being proud of all that you've done to keep this wondrous machine aloft. Jerry is indeed a great man, quite possibly the single most dedicated and focused personality in the warbird movement since Ed Maloney, and I am certain she will hold pride of place in the MAM's collection.

And as an aside, I can't recall the last time I saw Jerry when he WASN'T wearing that jacket. He was even wearing it when he flew me around the 'drome in his Stearman a couple years back.

Congrats once again to EVERY SINGLE ONE of you guys and gals!

Lynn

[B17news]

I look forward to seeing this B-17 in the new home. Many thanks to everyone who has kept Chuckie in the air over the years.