Here are a few excerpts from those conversations. After the departure of the first flight, an elderly gentleman ambled by my table. He was alone and I said “good morning” and we started talking about little things like how great it was to see the plane. After a short time, I noticed “Boeing One Seven November” (as it was called by the tower,) entering downwind and I pointed it out to my new acquaintance. We watched silently as it turned final. Once on final, it was illuminated by the morning sun. As it approached touchdown, the sun glistened off the wings and propellers. This picture was outlined by the dark green of the trees along the river. The old guy said, “Isn’t that the most beautiful sight in the world?” I couldn’t help but agree, it was really a great sight. He then said, “I haven’t seen that in a long time. I think I’m going to cry.” I looked over at him and the tears were flowing. I had a lump in my throat the size of a softball. Right then I knew this was a special day. He slowly  walked over to the side of the parking area and spent the rest of the morning not taking his tear filled eyes off that plane.

Another gentleman wearing his flight jacket (it had to be original) with all his service bars, patches, etc, had his cap on with patches and captains bars attached. We talked and I learned he had something like 60 missions in the B-17. He said he was seventeen when he first flew.

Later I talked to one of the men who returned from one of the flights. He was grinning ear to ear! He said he flew the B-17 during the war and was shot down twice. He told the EAA pilot that if there is an in-flight emergency, he would be glad to take the  controls since he probably had more experience with crashing a B-17. Fortunately he didn’t need to demonstrate that ability. He also said he was thankful that they eventually eliminated the college degree requirement for flight training during the war. He said,
“That opened the door for guys like me who didn’t go to college but had the ability to learn to fly.”

I also had an opportunity to talk to some of the wives waiting for their “fly-boys” to return. One lady told me this was a surprise early birthday present for her husband. That morning they got in the car and she just headed out highway 40 without his knowing
where they were headed. As they approached the airport he was looking over toward the facility and he said, “Hey, I think there is a B-17 taking off over there!” She said that he really got a kick out of that. As they approached the airport turn off, he really started getting excited when she started slowing for the turn into the airport. When she told him he was going to be flying on that plane she said it was beyond description and more than worth every penny!

There was a man and his wife who came over after the final flight in the morning. She said “We were working in the back yard and a plane flew over, he said, ‘Hey, there is a B-17, lets go see it’, and here we are. He knows every plane and has all the books.” As we were talking I found out he was into collecting cars. I was telling him about the EAA and building your own aircraft. He said he thought that would be a great thing to do. She said, “You could sell your cars and have plenty of money to build any airplane you wanted.” I think he might do just that.

Well, my day started without my knowing what I’d be doing. It turned out to be a memorable day. I don’t volunteer for every event, but the times I do, have been great experiences. Whether it’s with Young Eagles, baby sitting a B-17, offering to hold
down the right seat of a small prop plane, or holding down the rear of a Sabreliner it’s all been fantastic! The chapter can always use volunteers for the projects. I have always been glad when I helped! I just have to learn to fit my “honey do” list at home into my schedule.