Published: November 02, 2009 10:15 pm         

B-17 evokes emotion during Enid stop

Wherever it goes, the Aluminum Overcast draws a crowd, which is to be expected.

It is not every day, after all, that a World War II-vintage B-17 Flying Fortress comes to town.

Among those admiring the gleaming Aluminum Overcast as it sat on the ramp at Enid Woodring Regional Airport Monday was a woman who didn’t want her name used, but who has vivid memories of the B-17.

She was 14 years old in 1944 when a couple of B-17 crew members moved in with her family. They teased they were going to let her stow away on their aircraft.

“They gave me my first taste of whiskey,” she said.

Her memories are vivid, if somewhat bittersweet.

“When I saw that plane sitting there, I almost bawled,” she said.

The Experimental Aircraft Association’s restored B-17G evokes emotions like that. After all, it is a piece of history. The B-17 was a vital weapon during World War II, delivering tons of bombs to targets in Europe and the Pacific. First delivered in May 1945, the Aluminum Overcast never saw combat, but the plane has flown more than a million miles as a cargo hauler and aerial mapping platform, as well as being used in pest control and forest dusting applications. The plane was donated to the EAA in 1983, and restoration of the plane took more than 10 years.

Michael Hastings is an airline pilot by trade, but he also is one of those privileged to fly the Aluminum Overcast. He said flying the plane is like being part of history.

“For a guy like me to be able to do something like this, I just can’t believe it,” said Hastings, who has been flying the Aluminum Overcast for the past six years. “To fly a piece of history like this is just something I’ll never forget. This airplane is not anything like what you’d fly today in regards to an airliner or a corporate jet. All the systems are manually operated, you have to monitor the oil temperatures, the cylinder head temperatures, all the pressures and all the things that happen in an airplane engine and the systems of the aircraft.”

Flying a B-17G is a visceral experience, said Hastings, unlike piloting a modern aircraft.

“It’s loud, it vibrates, you smell the oil and you smell the fuel of the airplane, all those things,” Hastings said. “You feel the wind, you hear the wind, you hear those big engines thrumming out there, that whole airplane’s vibrating and the airplane’s kind of shifting around a little bit with the bumps in the air. It’s just a really good time and it really takes you to what was going on back then. You can’t put yourself in their shoes, but it helps to get you close.”

Flying the Aluminum Overcast is especially meaningful for Hastings, whose great uncle was a top turret gunner and flight engineer in a B-17 in the 25th Bomb Group during World War II.

Hastings’ uncle told him of returning from a mission at night, flying over the English Channel, when the crew saw the bright lights of London. Since the city was normally blacked out during the war for fear of German bombing, the crew wondered at the sight. The crew had to maintain radio silence, so couldn’t inquire about the lights.

“Finally, when they got over there and they could break radio silence they said, ‘What happened?’ and they were told, ‘The war’s over,’ so that was his last mission, and it was a big one.”

Hastings’ crew mate, Rick Fernalld, is an Air Force veteran who flew the B-52, but he calls piloting the B-17 a totally unique experience.

“What impressed me was actually thinking about what the crew members in the airplane had done, rather than flying the airplane,” Fernalld said. “It’s heavy on the controls, particularly the ailerons. It flies like a big Super Cub with a bit of an attitude. I refer to the fact it is much like herding cats, it’s just moving through the air, kind of wandering around. You kind of keep it going the same general direction and you’re OK.”

The Aluminum Overcast will be at Woodring today and Wednesday, hosted by EAA Chapter 455. Flights will be available beginning at 10:15 each morning. Flights are $385 for EAA members and $425 for non-members (the fee includes a one-year EAA membership).

In addition, ground tours are available after the last flight of the day for $5 per person or $15 for a family. Children under 8 can tour the aircraft free when accompanied by a paying adult. Ground tours are free for all active duty military or veterans.

For information or reservations, call (920) 379-4244 or see the Aluminum Overcast Web site at www.b17.org.