Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion The Art Lacey Bomber station , in trouble.........

http://www.katu.com/news/95638799.html

Ed Shaver

Thanks for posting an interesting story.

thanks Ed , I will be buying some rivets!

These planes were advertised for sale in National Petroleum News around 1947, I have one somewhere.

Jack Sim

Geez Jack.... I think it would be kind of hard to misplace a B-17

I love the B-17. It's just such a tough looking aircraft!! I live only a couple miles from Selfridge Air Base, and every couple of years there is an air show there. About 2 years ago there was a B-17 at the show and as it departed town after the show on Sunday afternoon, it flew right over my house low enough to see rivots lines. I was in the house and of course heard it coming. I ran out in the yard as I knew what i was hearing was going to be something very cool no matter what it was. But to go out in the yard and see a shining aluminum B-17. It was absolutely amazing. And although it sounds over dramatic, I will never forget it!!

I didn't read the entire article, I hope they get this one fixed up and saved!!
Thanks for sharing!

Great Article, thanks for sharing. I took this shot a few years back. Lots of rivets.

Hope they are able to raise the funds needed to preserve and save the plane.

...me too - but if it's going to be truly restored as a wartime/aviation artifact, I hope they take the time to learn about the actual plane's record of wartime service, as well as the original name given the plane by its crew...

...I mean, it was cool that Art Lacey bought a surplus bomber and made a gas station out of it - but that's pretty much all he did...

...I don't think it would be fair to those who served in that B-17, to restore the plane with some made-up 'Lacey Lady' nose art, and restore the plane as a memorial to Art Lacey...I just think that part of the plane's history is secondary to its wartime service...

If the story is true about the plane having less than 50 hours of fly time I'm going to guess it never dropped a bomb in anger. So it may have no combat history. I've been known to be wrong.

You're right, when Art bought it it came from a very large stock that never went overseas. I knew Art and he loved telling the story. There was a huge overstock as production geared up towards the end of the war in anticipation of a broader campaign.

This plane was probably one of the last ones built and never left the states. They did not fly these planes to England or the south Pacific, they were taken by ships, so with that kind of miles it never left the states.
Also, very little of the jeeps, tanks, airplanes that were in Europe and the south Pacific were brought back, they were taken out to sea on carriers and pushed off the end of the ship.
It should be preserved, possibly by the local history museum. It should be shown in memory of all the ones that were shot down over Germany and Japan.

Jack Sim

Hey Jack, How do you get a B-17 inside a ship's hold?

I can't imagine very many if any of the B-17's being hauled across the Pacific and Atlantic on ships.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pacific_air_ferry_route_in_World_War_II

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Atlantic_air_ferry_route_in_World_War_II