WWII Veterans Take Reunion Flight In B-17 Bomber
A rare B-17 bomber landed at the DeKalb County Airport in Auburn June 8 as part of a traveling tour, and for several visitors who came to see the plane it was a historic reunion.
Everett Smiley, 91, came from Kokomo wearing his original Army Air Corps uniform to experience a flight on the B-17 for the first time since piloting one in World War II. He flew 51 missions over southern Europe in one of the planes.
“The worst ones – we hated to go over them, we went over them five times – was Vienna, Austria,” said Smiley. “They had 325 guns around there, 105s and 88s. And you knew you were getting shot at. Flak was everywhere and generally you had a lot of holes in the airplane. One time I had two engines knocked out, so I came back with two engines.”
Robert Tobey, 92, also traveled to Auburn to fly inside the B-17. He piloted four missions in a B-17 bomber during World War II.
Both men had a chance to fly in the B-17 again. The reunion flight was very different than their wartime experiences.
“[It’s] been 70 years ago and I didn’t figure I’d ever get back in a B-17 seat,” Smiley said. “But it’s exciting. I have a lot of memories from it – good and bad. You can’t have all good during the war, you know.”
The B-17 bomber, named the “Aluminum Overcast,” was brought in by the Experimental Aircraft Association.
Source: WANE