Saturday, December 10, 2011

Aluminum Overcast takes WWII veteran back in time. B-17 bomber makes stop in Olive Branch

The World War II veteran was 24 years old again, sitting in the nose of a flying B-17 bomber, in the chin turret, brilliant sun rays illuminating him and the entire platform.

His smile was what they call "ear to ear," and 91-year-old Hulan Roberts said, "I never thought I'd get to do this again." But here he was, the former bombardier sitting in the same sort of seat he'd sat in to fly 32 missions, including bombing runs over Munich and Berlin.

Roberts was the guest of the Experimental Aircraft Association, which owns the restored bomber nicknamed Aluminum Overcast. EAA is at the Olive Branch airport through Sunday to give the public tours of the B-17 and provide paid flights of about 20 minutes in length.

Flight prices for non-EAA members range between $439 for pre-booked trips to $465 for walk-ups. The cost is a little less for EAA members. Flights will be conducted at 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today and Sunday. Ground tours will be 2-5 p.m. after the flights.

Forever Young, which grants wishes to the World War II generation, arranged the flight for Roberts after founder Diane Hight learned of the B-17's tour to Olive Branch. She called him, asked how he was doing. He complained about leg and back pain, but when offered the flight, Roberts said yes without hesitation.

"It's very hard for us to understand what this truly means to them because we haven't been in war," Hight said after seeing Roberts in flight. "It touches their soul."

To access the prime viewing spot in the plane nose, passengers walked through a narrow passageway, stepped into the cockpit area, hunkered down three steps and crawled through a short passageway underneath the pilots.

Dan Bowlin, 66, of Memphis, and Rick Fernalld, 65, of Seattle, flew the plane. Both are ex-Air Force pilots and have years of commercial flying experience between them.

The B-17 isn't just another plane, Bowlin said. Few pilots are licensed to fly it.

"It's a big tail-dragger machine," he said. "It's difficult to fly in cross winds. It doesn't have any boost-it controls ... everything is muscle power. It's a handful."

The cockpit is original. The engine gauges are original, but the flight and radio gauges are modern, a must-have for safety reasons, Bowlin said.

Flying the plane is a thrill, but the treat for Bowlin is really the people.

"We get to meet the guys who flew them during World War II, those brave men," Bowlin said. "They're not going to be with us much longer. I get to thank them."

At flight's end, the roar of the propeller engines stopped and all the passengers left the plane -- except Roberts. He remained in the nose and the crew let him. His family joined him as he told tales of the war, of the enemy gunfire -- "the flak was terrible. I can still hear it now," he said.

During the flight, he had a clear view of the ground, he said, but during bombing runs the crew used radar to target sites. The clouds obstructed their view.

Still, the flight brought back memories. Roberts' voice began to quiver. He put a pair of fingers to his lips.

"It brought tears a couple of times," he said.


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