B-17 bomber takes to skies above serene East Tennessee countryside

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. – The massive B-17G bomber cast an imposing shadow Friday morning as it flew above the serene East Tennessee countryside.

Known as a Flying Fortress, the World War II-era heavy bomber nicknamed “Sentimental Journey” carried no destructive payload on its brief 30-minute sortie from the Tri-Cities Regional Airport over the Twin City and back again.

Riding inside the cramped fuselage, with its four turbocharged Pratt & Whitney engines rumbling and its cache of machine guns pointed out Plexiglass-covered windows, it’s easy to imagine some of what its 10-member crew experienced during the plane’s tenure in the Pacific Theater.

The Sentimental Journey – one of about 50 B-17s still in existence and only a handful still flying – is on display today at Tri-Cities Regional Airport. Tours are $5 while a 45-minute flight ranges from $425 to $600. Operating the plane costs about $2,000 an hour.

“We get a lot of people out to see this plane,” pilot Bob Blue said before taking off. “The rides in the [glass] nose section are more expensive but those are the ones that go first.”

A retired commercial airline pilot, Blue has been flying the B-17 sporting artwork of movie star Betty Grable for the past 15 years.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to fly this plane,” Blue said. “It’s a memorial to all those who flew.”

The plane is owned and maintained by the Arizona wing of the Commemorative Air Force, a nonprofit entity dedicated to preserving American military history. They operate an air museum in Mesa, Ariz.

Blue said one of the highlights of his tenure in the left seat has been meeting many of the World War II combat veterans.

“Guys come and they just want to sit in the seat. It’s like they go into some kind of suspended animation. They’ll just sit there for 20 minutes or so and not say a word and then think they’ve only been there for a minute or two,” Blue said.

“Miraculous” tales of the plane’s ability to withstand massive combat damage and still bring its crews safely home are common, Blue said. One pilot related how his crew flew 25 missions through intense enemy fire without any serious injuries.

“Some of it, you can only say happened by the grace of God,” Blue said.

Before entering the 18-ton airplane Friday morning, flight crew member Mike Toft instructs new riders not to pull on the 12 simple wire cables running overhead – because they control the plane’s steering apparatus.

“On the top, you’ll see cables that run the length of the airplane. All the controls are controlled by cables, so if you grab those for support, you’ve just taken control of the airplane. Try and keep your hands off the cables,” Toft said.

Forget and a bright red sign posted just above the cables offers a sober warning: “Do not pull or grasp causing possible fatality.”

The other cautionary note for passengers is to avoid walking along the perilously narrow catwalk above the bomb bay doors while the plane is airborne.

“The bomb bay doors, in the up position, will support 60 pounds. So if you slip off the catwalk it would be just enough to slow you down. Make sure and take a camera if you’re gonna do it,” Toft gleefully tells photographers.

Inside, there are no frills. B-17s were purpose-built to deliver significant quantities of ordinance over long distances, Toft said. When fully loaded with almost 2,800 gallons of gasoline and up to 8,000 pounds of bombs, the planes could fly for hours at 35,000 feet.

Once strapped in and the doors close, the pilot starts each 1,200-horsepower engine individually and warms them up to circulate 37 gallons of oil before taxiing to runway 2-3.

Takeoff seems effortless for a craft the pilot describes as “driving a half-loaded cement mixer without power steering.”

Inside, it is loud and hot after just a few minutes flying at between 1,500 and 3,000 feet.

In its combat days, crew members wore oxygen masks and battled frostbite as aloft temperatures dropped to 60 degrees below zero. Encountering enemy aircraft meant crew members sliding along the narrow wooden walkway as shell casings flew “everywhere,” Toft said.

“Each .50-caliber gun had 27 feet of shells stored in cases. That’s where the phrase give them the ‘whole nine yards’ came from,’ ” Toft said.

Fog shrouds the distant mountains surrounding Boone Lake as the war bird gains altitude and banks toward Bristol.

While roads and houses are indistinguishable from above, the unmistakable shape of the Bristol Motor Speedway soon gleams in the distance.

Blue circles slowly above the NASCAR track, points the B-17G westward toward the airport and soon begins descending. Minutes later, its tires screech as it gently touches down.

After reassuming its static display position on the Tennessee tarmac, members of the flight crew begin wiping away excess oil and preparing for the next flight.

The Sentimental Journey is on display from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today. It is scheduled to depart Tuesday for an event in Lexington, Ky.

dmcgee@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2532