Mike Sheppard, of the Arizona-based Commemorative Airforce, stands beside the "Sentimental Journey," a B17 bomber that flew missions during the Second Word War and was restored in 1978. The aircraft is in town this week as part of the Family Fun and Flight exhibition at Medicine Hat Regional Airport.--News Photo Collin Gallant
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With the goal of bringing world and aviation history to life, a B17 Flying Fortress bomber touched down at Medicine Hat Regional Airport on Monday.
Greeted by air cadets and local organizers of the Family Fun and Flight event, the Sentimental Journey will provide a glimpse of war’s effect 78 years after she was built.
“It’s exciting for us and hopefully it’s exciting for the public, because we try to get these planes out and about, giving people a chance to see them and understand the significance they played in keeping the world free 75 or 80 years ago,” said Mike Sheppard,
Of the Flying Legends of Victory tour, it’s an Arizona-based effort to maintain the planes and educate the public.
Sheppard is part of the flight crew of the bomber, one of only a few that remain in flying condition after the model was a mainstay in U.S. air effort during the Second World War, and which had a 60 per cent attrition rate flying missions in Europe and the Pacific.
It will be on display and residents can book flight tours of the city on the group’s website. It is the major attraction of this week’s event at the Medicine Hat airport, and one of 13 dates for the plane this year.
A B24 also operated by the group remained in Helena undergoing unscheduled maintenance, but the B17 provides a wealth of information for aviation and military aficionados, said Mitchell while touring reporters and local pilots around the vehicle.
One of the few modern conveniences on the compact aircraft that could carry a payload of 6,000 pounds in its bomb bay are Plexiglas shields over the opening of the side guns – two of 13 50-calibre machine guns mounted on the top, bottom, front and back of the aircraft.
The planes flew between 30,000 and 35,000 feet in unpressed cabins, said Sheppard. Crews were mostly aged younger than 25.
“The conditions were really unfathomable … imagine driving down the highway and several hundred miles per hour, it’s minus-50 and the windows are down,” said Sheppard..
“Much of what we do and talk about at our museum surrounds the sacrifice involved.”
Of 12,000 B17s produced for the war effort – to “do the heavy lifting,” as Sheppard puts it – as the American’s long-range heavy bomber, fewer than a handful are still in operation today.
With no hydraulics, the plane is operated entirely on cables and lever systems.
“Now that’s arm strong steering,” said Sheppard
The specific aircraft in Medicine Hat, known as the Sentimental Journey after the song of the era, was built in 1944 and saw action in the Pacific theatre. After, it was transformed to fight forest fires before it was bought and donated to the group in the late 1970s and restored.
The plane arrived Monday from an airshow in Montana, and will continue on to Canadian events in Lethbridge, Cranbrook, Kelowna and Victoria, before dates in Washington state, Idaho and Utah to conclude the summer season of airshows.
Locally, the group is being hosted by the Family Fun and Flight group that typically stages air shows and exhibitions every two years. This year, the chance to piggy-back an appearance from other airshows in Alberta presented an opportunity the local group could not refuse.
“It’s really amazing to have them here and have Medicine Hatters join us,” said Rob Watson, president of Family Fun and Flights.
The event is open to the public for paid tours of the aircraft Tuesday through Thursday, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., then airborne rides in the plan follow from Friday through Sunday in the mornings, with ground tours continuing in the afternoons until 6 p.m.
