Visit a B-17!

Written by Keith Wednesday, 21 July 2010 17:04

A WWII B-17 bomber is currently in Cedar Rapids and tomorrow (Thursday, July 22) is scheduled to fly to Rochester.

If Lime Springers are lucky, they might even see it go over! The direct route from CID to RST can't be far from Lime Springs. It'll sound different and beautiful and won't be moving very fast.

This plane is owned by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) of Oshkosh and is completing its summer tour. Next week, it will be on display at the annual EAA extravaganza, EAA AirVenture, in Oshkosh.

A key activity of this year's AirVenture is recognizing the 75th anniversary of the B-17, a major contributor to the winning of the war in Europe.

At the Rochester airport, you can walk (crawl?) through this historic airplane. Adult tickets for the ground tour are $5 or $15/family. Veterans can tour at no charge! Rides are also available, at about $400 each.

If you are interested, or have kids who could benefit from a bit of "ancient history," a drive up to Rochester will be well worth the short trip. This is a BIG airplane, an interesting airplane, an old airplane, and a historically important type of airplane.

And, amazing to me, 19-year-olds flew them during the war!

There are only about 14 of these which are in flying condition, so this is a rare opportunity to see "living" history!

The plane will be on display at RST Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Its website: http://www.b17.org/