B17 arrived yesterday…

LANCASTER – As a World War II combat pilot, retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Robert Springer flew 35 combat missions over Europe in a B-17 Flying Fortress.
“I got over there in October 1944, and I flew my last combat mission in March 1945,” Springer, 84, said.

All but one of Springer’s missions were over Germany, save for a single France sortie.

He flew his first 16 missions as a co-pilot and completed the remaining 19 as pilot.

“On my missions I never had a man injured or lost an engine,” he said.

“I had one mission where, when we got back, we had about 150 flak holes” in the aircraft, Springer recalled. “It didn’t do any vital damage, it didn’t injure anybody, just the shrapnel.”

He said most of his missions were “milk runs,” where he and his crew encountered little or no opposition.

“Some of them were pretty hairy because they were so heavily defended, particularly the oil targets,” Springer said.

Springer, along with other World War II vets, turned out on a picture-perfect Monday afternoon at Gen. William J. Fox Airfield to see a restored B-17, the “Aluminum Overcast,” similar to the one he flew over Germany.

The aircraft, owned and operated by the Experimental Aircraft Association, is visiting the Antelope Valley as part of the EAA’s 2008 Salute to Veterans national tour.

The vintage aircraft, a B-17G, will be on display for ground tours and flights today and Wednesday at Fox Field, 50th Street West and Avenue G. The first flight is scheduled at 8:45 a.m. with additional flights scheduled as required, with a minimum of six passengers per flight. Ground tours will be available from 2 to 5 p.m. daily following flights.

Flights cost $425 per person – $385 for EAA members – and may be reserved by calling (920) 371-2246.

Perhaps best known for their daylight bombing missions over Germany, the bombers served in the European and Pacific theaters during the war. Nearly 13,000 were built by Douglas Aircraft, Lockheed and Boeing between 1935 and 1945, and close to 5,000 were lost in combat missions.

About 14 are in flying condition today, though not all of them see the air.

EAA’s “Aluminum Overcast” was built in 1945, but it was delivered to the U.S. Army Air Corps too late to see active service in World War II.

It was purchased as war surplus for $750 by a private individual and served in mapping and spraying operations in many countries until a preservation group purchased it in 1978. The glistening B-17 was donated to the EAA Aviation Foundation in 1981 with the provision it be maintained in airworthy condition.

George Daubner, who piloted the aircraft over the Antelope Valley for a sparkling media tour Monday, said there are historic and aviator sides to flying the aircraft. “There’s the emotional side when you think about who came before us,” he said.

And on the aviator side, he said, the B-17 represented a huge leap ahead technologically from what was available in the 1930s.

“From an aerodynamic standpoint, it’s a very pure airplane to fly,” he said. “It’s the heaviest airplane a person can fly without having hydrologically assisted controls. It’s all cables and pulleys.”

Pilot Sean Elliot, who flew the aircraft to Lancaster and its prior stop in Las Vegas, said the B-17 is a fantastic aircraft to fly.

“It is living history, that’s probably the best definition for it,” he said. “It puts you back in a time machine. You’re experiencing things most folks haven’t experienced for 60 years.”

Elliot has been flying the “Aluminum Overcast” since 2003 and said there is always a magical story among the people who ride at each tour stop. “Most of the time it is the veterans who have the very emotional and incredible stories to share with you,” he said.

In Las Vegas, the pilot said, there was an English woman who flew from England with her husband and son to fly in the aircraft. The woman, a big fan and student of the B-17, was diagnosed with terminal cancer three years ago. She had put it in her will she wanted her ashes scattered in a B-17. The woman beat the odds and is in remission.

“She was in tears with us after that flight,” Elliot said.

Adolf “Adie” Fix, 85, a waist gunner who flew 29 missions on a B-17, said he came out to see the aircraft for nostalgia.

“It brings back a lot of memories,” Fix said.

Gary Aldrich, president of EAA Chapter 1000, which is host to the bomber, said the public flights are arranged to help maintain awareness of the historical significance of the B-17.

“This just shows a little bit about how these young guys went and fought the war, World War II, and what they put up with. It’s important to remember the ‘Greatest Generation,’ ” Aldrich said.