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B-17 Memphis Belle? (Read 282 times)
Jul 15th, 2003 at 1:47am

Harvardfan   Offline
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Greetings!
I was at an airshow  this past weekend and there was a B-17 there with the markings of the "Memphis Belle". I was told that it was not the real "Memphis Belle", and that the real one was in a tent somewhere in the southern states. Anyone able to clarify this for me?
Also, I thought I'd share this story with you all. I was able to fly to this airshow in the back seat of a Harvard (AT-6) and the pilot graciously allowed me to take the stick for a few minutes while flying in (a very loose) formation. Let me tell you, it is nothing like flying in a flight simulator. The movement of the aircraft, the subtle increase and decreace in speed as you raise or lower your aircraft was amazing to me. These aircraft are very responsive and any overcorrection can really throw you around up there as I soon found out. It was a very cool experience. I have a new found respect for formation and aerobatic pilots.
 
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Reply #1 - Jul 15th, 2003 at 1:55am
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Reply #2 - Jul 15th, 2003 at 1:55am

Wing Nut   Offline
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The Memphis Belle is now at 'Mud Island' a tourist attraction in Memphis, Tennessee.  It's a kind of a miniature amusment park thing and you'll have to pay $8.00 to see her.  Seeing the plane is free, but you have to pay admission to the park.
 

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Reply #3 - Jul 15th, 2003 at 2:27am

Wing Nut   Offline
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I guess they have removed it for restoration.  It was at Mud Island for many years, if you check out the site, they have a few pictures of it there (the ones in the dome).
 

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Reply #4 - Jul 15th, 2003 at 12:59pm

HawkerTempest5   Offline
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I'm gussing that you went to Flying Legends at Duxford?
If so this is the B-17 you saw.
...
It's true identity is B-17G 44-85784 "Sally B" and it belongs to the B-17 Preservation Trust and is based at Duxford.
Ariving in the UK too late to see active service in WW2 it took part in some secret tests for the USAF with a couple of strang looking pods, one manned and one unmanned on each wing tip. The true nature of these tests is unknown. It spent some time in France before coming to the UK some 27 years ago. Run by volunteers and funded by donations it flys at shows all over the UK during the summer months.
The Menphis Belle markings are from it's role in the Memphis Belle movie.
Hope that helps a bit.
 

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Reply #5 - Jul 16th, 2003 at 7:41pm

flyboy 28   Offline
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I just finished reading the memiors of the pilot of the Memphis Belle, Bob Morgan. I met him at an airshow at NAS Willow Grove last Septemper. (That's where I got the book.) I kinda felt bad for him because all day he was doing book signings in a hanger next to a German Me-262. I bet after WWII he never wanted to see a swastika again. D'oh!  Tongue
Anyway, The book was $30.00, but you could get it personally autographed by him for $40.00. I was reading that in the 1970's, vandals had taken the Belle's nosecone and stole every one of her guns. How could anyone do such a thing? Those guns could very well have prevented us all from speaking German right now. But I shook Bob Morgan's hand, and that made my day. Grin Besides, that B-17 in the picture is the "G" model. The real Belle is an "F" model, serial # 41-24485. Boy, I think that's a little too much information, but it's good to know stuff like this.
 
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Reply #6 - Jul 17th, 2003 at 11:29am

HawkerTempest5   Offline
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I met Bob Morgan at Duxford last year. One of the great things about shows at Duxford is getting to meet these wounderful men who flew the planes we now admire at airshows. Over the years I've met James Edgar "Jonnie" Johnson, Alex Henshaw, Clarence "Bud" Anderson and this year I met German ace and NATO general Gunther Rall. It's just magic to meet these great men.
 

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Reply #7 - Jul 18th, 2003 at 10:12pm

Harvardfan   Offline
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Greetings again!
Sorry it took me so long to reply, but I took my family on vacation to Niagara Falls.
The B-17 I saw was at Geneseo, New York, and did not have Checkered engine cowlings like the one from Duxford. It was a beautifull aircraft even if not the original. Flyboy_28 wrote that he met Bob Morgan at Willow Grove last year. I will be flying to the Willow Grove airshow this September with the "Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association". Looks to be quite a good show.
Hope to see you there. (I fly with the association as part of the service wing.)
 
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