5.22.2007
B17s in the Air
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In the SF Bay Area, over the last few days you might have seen some classic aircraft in flight, lumbering overhead with a low, piston-powered rumble.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Memphis_Belle.jpg/767px-Memphis_Belle.jpg)
The Memphis Belle
These included the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator, and the P-51 Mustang.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/73/020927-o-9999A-002.jpg/766px-020927-o-9999A-002.jpg)
Women WASP pilots ferried B-17s from the U.S. to the European theatre. Heavy aircraft casualties required continued replenishment. The plane bears the phrase "Pistol Packin' Mama"
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/71/Clark_Gable_8th-AF-Britain1943.jpg)
Actor Clark Gable, age 43, gunner, 8th Air Force
A wide variety of future celebrities and sports figures were associated with the B-17:
* Martin Caidin (1927–1997) — Author of Cyborg, the story that formed the basis of The Six Million Dollar Man and the saga of the last transatlantic formation flight of B-17s ever made, Everything But the Flak.
* Clark Gable (1901–1960) — Academy Award-winning film actor, five missions as waist gunner with several groups from May to September 1943, including the B-17 Eight Ball of the 359th Bomb Squadron (351st Bomb Group).
* Tom Landry — American football player and coach, flew 30 missions over Europe in 1944-45 as a B-17 pilot with the 493rd Bomb Group, surviving a crash landing in Czechoslovakia. (His older brother Robert died in a B-17 crash)[117]
* Norman Lear — Radio operator, with the 463rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force, Celone Field, Foggia, Italy; television producer of American sitcoms Sanford and Son, Maude and All in the Family, among others.
* Gene Roddenberry — Creator of Star Trek; flew B-17s for the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Group (H), in the Pacific theater.[118]
* Robert Rosenthal — Assistant to the U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, where he interrogated Hermann Goering, pilot with the 100th Bomb Group.
* Brigadier General Robert Lee Scott, Jr. (1908–2006) — Best known for his autobiography God is My Co-Pilot, about his exploits in World War II with the Flying Tigers and the United States Army Air Forces in China and Burma.
* Jimmy Stewart — American film actor, instructed in B-17s before flying 20 combat missions in B-24s with the 8th Air Force, England; retired from Air Force Reserve a Brigadier General.[119]
* Bert Stiles (1920-1944) — 91st Bomb Group co-pilot from March to October 1944, short-story author, killed in action flying a P-51 on a second tour.
* Smokey Yunick — Award-winning motorsports car designer and premier NASCAR crew chief flew 50 missions as a B-17 pilot with the 97th Bombardment Group (Heavy) of the 15th Air Force, out of Amendola Airfield, Foggia, Italy.[120]![](http://racetrak.googlepages.com/braintech.gif)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/Memphis_Belle.jpg/767px-Memphis_Belle.jpg)
The Memphis Belle
These included the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator, and the P-51 Mustang.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/73/020927-o-9999A-002.jpg/766px-020927-o-9999A-002.jpg)
Women WASP pilots ferried B-17s from the U.S. to the European theatre. Heavy aircraft casualties required continued replenishment. The plane bears the phrase "Pistol Packin' Mama"
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/71/Clark_Gable_8th-AF-Britain1943.jpg)
Actor Clark Gable, age 43, gunner, 8th Air Force
A wide variety of future celebrities and sports figures were associated with the B-17:
* Martin Caidin (1927–1997) — Author of Cyborg, the story that formed the basis of The Six Million Dollar Man and the saga of the last transatlantic formation flight of B-17s ever made, Everything But the Flak.
* Clark Gable (1901–1960) — Academy Award-winning film actor, five missions as waist gunner with several groups from May to September 1943, including the B-17 Eight Ball of the 359th Bomb Squadron (351st Bomb Group).
* Tom Landry — American football player and coach, flew 30 missions over Europe in 1944-45 as a B-17 pilot with the 493rd Bomb Group, surviving a crash landing in Czechoslovakia. (His older brother Robert died in a B-17 crash)[117]
* Norman Lear — Radio operator, with the 463rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 15th Air Force, Celone Field, Foggia, Italy; television producer of American sitcoms Sanford and Son, Maude and All in the Family, among others.
* Gene Roddenberry — Creator of Star Trek; flew B-17s for the 394th Bomb Squadron, 5th Bomb Group (H), in the Pacific theater.[118]
* Robert Rosenthal — Assistant to the U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, where he interrogated Hermann Goering, pilot with the 100th Bomb Group.
* Brigadier General Robert Lee Scott, Jr. (1908–2006) — Best known for his autobiography God is My Co-Pilot, about his exploits in World War II with the Flying Tigers and the United States Army Air Forces in China and Burma.
* Jimmy Stewart — American film actor, instructed in B-17s before flying 20 combat missions in B-24s with the 8th Air Force, England; retired from Air Force Reserve a Brigadier General.[119]
* Bert Stiles (1920-1944) — 91st Bomb Group co-pilot from March to October 1944, short-story author, killed in action flying a P-51 on a second tour.
* Smokey Yunick — Award-winning motorsports car designer and premier NASCAR crew chief flew 50 missions as a B-17 pilot with the 97th Bombardment Group (Heavy) of the 15th Air Force, out of Amendola Airfield, Foggia, Italy.[120]
Labels: b17, flying fortress, gene roddenberry, jimmy stewart, liberator
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