By Will Blanchard
Globe Staff Writer
JOPLIN, Mo. —
This is partially because of turbulence. Unlike a commercial flight, the aircraft shakes even when it is running smoothly.
But nostalgia, even when it is based on the experience of ancestors, can play a principal part in the stomach churning.
It was Liberty Foundation founder Don Brooks’ dream to restore the Liberty Belle, the B-17 his father flew during World War II. Now on a 50-city tour, the realization of Brooks’ dream will be open to the public Sunday at the Joplin Regional Airport’s Mizzou Aviation Center. The aircraft was in Joplin on Monday giving flights to local reporters, and it will be in Springfield on Saturday before returning to Joplin to offer public flights.
Unlike the aircraft upon which it is based, this restored Flying Fortress never made it overseas, having been built in May 1945 at the tail end of the war. Much has gone into its restoration, however, and it now stands as an example of what was used in the war.
The plane has been in the air more in the past five years than it was in all of “the 60 before that,” said John Hess, pilot and captain of the plane.
The plane was termed obsolete shortly after its 1945 completion, and Boeing Co. sold this particular four-engine B-17 to engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney to be a test aircraft. In 1967, the latter company retired it from service and sent it to the New England Air Museum in Connecticut. A tornado hit the museum in 1979, damaging the aircraft, and it was purchased in 1990 by Tom Reilly, who began restoring it.
The Liberty Foundation purchased the aircraft in 2000 and spent four more years working with Reilly to complete the restoration, in accordance with Brooks’ vision of bringing the Liberty Belle back. In 2004, the Liberty Belle made its debut, and it has been on tour since.
Hess said 14 years and 88,000 man-hours went into the project. As a result, the aircraft emulates the original Liberty Belle in nearly every last detail, including the animated graphic of an orange-haired woman holding an American flag and leaning on the iconic cracked Liberty Bell.
The accuracy of the restoration extends beyond what the public could notice. The steering of the plane is completely manual, making it a chore to turn the wheel and navigate, and requiring both patience and elbow grease.
“You think of the pilots in war that had to fly eight to 10 hours of manual flying,” Hess said. “You can imagine that they were physically exhausted by the end of the day.”
Controls in the cockpit remain historically correct. There are model bombs in the bay, and its hatch opens and closes smoothly. The automatic guns remain in place, protruding through windows on each side.
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