Something I always wanted to do was check out a B-17 up close. I finally had the chance this past weekend. The wife and I drove over to Manistee, MI to see this one particular B-17.





My interest in this one was special. Although it's not acknowledged on the nose, this one had a long Coast Guard history. Kind of wish it was acknowledged (I know it's not sexy but....). Anyway....one of our long time CG aircraft researchers was able to locate some old aircrews and logbooks that showed where this B-17 saw Coast Guard service. One of the dates is off, but otherwise pretty interesting.

I have to check an old CG pilot's logbook, but this plane may have been the one that spotted our crashed Grumman Duck in Greenland back in 1947. That project is still ongoing, we're waiting on some NASA sensor data of the crashsite to get processed.
John