B-17 in Springfield this weekend highlights pilots and crew as heroes

[July 01, 2017]  The Experimental Aircraft Association has brought an historic military aircraft, the B-17, to the Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in Springfield. The Aluminum Overcast is a B-17G Flying Fortress that was built to serve in World War II.

The experience of seeing and even flying in this rare aircraft offers a once-in-a-lifetime event. The B-17 event is open to the public this weekend at the airport. Visit B17.org or call 800-359-6217 for more information.

According to information gathered from the website, - “The B-17G has a remarkable story; one filled with daring missions and personal sacrifice.”

• “You’re now invited to relive that story on a historic flight aboard the EAA’s beautifully restored B-17 Flying Fortress, Aluminum Overcast.”
   

• “More than just an airplane, the B-17 is living history that holds a remarkable connection to the past and is the most iconic image of World War II.”
   

• “Today, it serves as a tribute to those known as the greatest generation: the bold men and women who built and served on the heavy bombers in the 1940s.”

On a gorgeous afternoon at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport on Thursday, June 29, 2017, a small crowd of eight media people gathered around the Aluminum Overcast as pilot Tom Ewing began to speak. “We are here to tell the story of the heroes that flew the B-17, he said. Ewing retired after 35 years flying for UPS and currently volunteers his time in the cockpit of the Aluminum Overcast.

Tom Ewing (left) and Sean Elliott

“Now you can actually get in it and fly,” Ewing said. “We go beyond cracking the history books. Now you can actually experience what these guys did.”

Ewing described himself as an “aerobatic guy” who has been flying on this project for about a year and a half. The project is guided by the EAA, which is a non-profit organization dedicated to sharing the spirit of aviation with everyone.

“With so few of these left in the world you have to protect them and make sure the people flying them are accustomed to working under a strict set of rules,” said Ewing.

With that being said, Ewing is obviously honored to be a part of something so special. “I mean this is a national treasure,” said Ewing. “This is a very special piece of history. [There were] 12,731 of these built and less than 48 airframes still exists in the world and most of those are behind velvet ropes in museums. There’s less than a dozen still on the books shown as air-worthy and only half of those are actually flying regularly. This is a very rare and special piece of equipment.”

“When you think of the heavy bombing in Europe, you think of the B-17,” Ewing continued. “We had the B-24 there also, but the B-17 is the one that most people think of. And there are so few of them that still exist. It’s special to fly this.”

When asked about his own personal feeling flying such an iconic aircraft, Ewing answered, “It’s a lot of fun. I am the one that’s volunteering all the time. I want to be out here all the time.”

Ewing went on to talk about the history behind these legendary bombers. “We are all out here to tell a story. We are not out here just to fly an airplane. We tell the story of the aviators,” he said. “You know, 26,000 of these guys were killed. There were more of the crew members on heavy bombers killed in Europe than all of the Marines in the Pacific.”

“Then another 21,000 were bailing out and were in prison camps. That piece of history is rapidly going away, most people are not aware of it, and not only that, but the story of how all of this came about. I mean it was a very different world. To come up with 12,731 of these airplanes and to make 19,000 B-24s, to think that the most widely produced jet airliner is the Boeing 737 and it first flew in 1967 and only 9,522 of those have ever been built and it took 50 years to build those. It took three years to build almost all of the 12,731 B-17s. It was a very different world. A world that this world does not recognize anymore.”

“They were 300-hour pilots flying these things. It’s a very different kind of flying and well, that’s why 4,750 of these were shot down over the skies of Europe. But an equal number were lost in training and ferry accidents. You know, this is not an easy plane to fly for these young pilots.”

Note, Ewing said 'young.'

Ewing went on so say that at altitude these planes fly at 280 mph, while the normal cruise of a B-17 is in the 180 mph range. No where near the speed of a jet airliner of today, but as Ewing continued to speak he hammered the point home.

“Don’t cut ‘em short,” he said. Ewing explained that the B-17‘s were often in the combat box formation, tightly bunched, anywhere from 13 to 36 aircraft, depending on what kind of box formation, and each of these airplanes has thirteen .50 caliber Browning M-2 machine guns. “You hand the keys to a messerschmitt 109 to a German pilot and tell ‘em to dive in on 36 B-17s with thirteen .50 caliber Brownings,” Ewing said. “Put it this way: 4,735 of these were shot out of the skies by flack and German fighters but 6,600 German fighters got shot down by just the B-17s alone.

So don’t cut ‘em short. These guys had some heavy armament. If you talk to the German pilots they said if you tried to take on a squadron of B-17s on your own, you’re likely to get killed. If you are with a wingman and there’s just two of you, you’re likely to get killed. They said it would take five or six or more to dive in, in order to take down the B-17s. Now it was dangerous, but these guys had some firepower.”

Firepower that attributed to the U.S. winning WW II.

Before the media boarded the Aluminum Overcast, another pilot, Sean Elliott, spoke and asked this of the eager media crew. “When we are out on this flight today, it’s a nice day, kinda warm and there is beautiful scenery to look at, but take a minute and rather than just smile and enjoy and say, “This is a really great flight,” try to think and put yourself in the mindset of “What if I were 19, and what if it was a dark period in history where we didn’t know if we were going to come out of WW II successfully?”

He continued saying that there were some pretty bad people in the world trying to force the outcome otherwise. Can you imagine at 19, 20 or 21-year-olds, flying in this airplane in subzero temperatures, freezing, freezing cold? Without a glove your skin would freeze to the metal of the gun barrel. No oxygen. You gotta wear oxygen masks everywhere you move around the airplane. And literally up to a third of [those on] the airplane is not coming back on a given day. A lot of empty bunks every night.

"These kids that flew these airplanes really were the greatest generation and are the greatest generation. What they did and the sacrifices they made thoughtlessly, just part of their job. They were doing their job. Every vet I’ve ever talked to and met that flew in WW II, they all felt the same. It was just their job. And it was their country that they loved very, very dearly, as to why they did it absolutely without thought and without question. They did it every day. It was brutal,” said Elliott.

Just before boarding, Elliott reminded the passengers again, “Try to take a moment in flight, ‘cause that’s the magic of this experience. It really does get you that much closer to a bit of a level of understanding with what these kids, and they were kids, went through.”

Once the media boarded the plane, it took just under ten minutes to get the plane warmed up and the propellers in motion. The plane was indeed a little noisy and earplugs were offered to the passengers. Take-off was a nice experience as was the landing, but neither compared to the thrill of being able to move about the plane and look out the windows.

The most thrilling part of the ride was being invited to travel up to the front of the cockpit and crawl underneath to the Bombardier’s station. Sitting in the glass bubble one could just barely picture the scene in 1945 flying over enemy territory.

The bomb sight was still intact on the Aluminum Overcast and it was one of the most highly classified pieces of equipment in WW II.

The pilots took the passengers on about a 25-minute mission flying over Springfield and although the flight was a little bumpy at times, everyone on board agreed it was an amazing experience.

It’s worth noting that Ewing also brought up the fact that the first B-17 bombing mission took place in August of 1942. To get 25 missions for each plane it took just over 4 months on average, he noted. It was May of 1943 before the very first B-17 ever survived the 25 missions, Ewing announced.

“So for four-and-a-half months these guys saw nobody came home. I mean, nobody was going to make it through,” said Ewing. “Again, this is part of the story. This is the most important part of the story,” he continued. “Not just flying in an airplane. We are here to tell the story of the aviators and they are heroes to get into that airplane.”

“The more you know about it, the more you just understand why they call it the greatest generation. They got in this plane day in and day out. This would be a very different world right now, very different, if they had not done what they did and that’s why we’re here,” Ewing concluded.

God Bless the Greatest Generation!

*The Aluminum Overcast took its first flight in World War II on May 18, 1945, but it did not see battle before the war ended.

[Teena Lowery]