Linn Barringer 11 July 2008
The Liberty Belle is a second world war Boeing B-17 bomber, known to many as the "Flying Fortress," powered by four 9-cylinder 1,200 horsepower radial engines, defended with 13 machine guns, and carrying 8,000lbs of bombs. (more detailed B-17G specs here).
This particular historic aircraft has had a varied life - from being in storage, sold for scrap, then an engine test-bed, and seriously damaged in a tornado and finally being restored in a six-year project ending in 1987.*
Liberty Belle is making a European Tour during 2008. Early July, this historic B-17 landed somewhat secretly at the former RAF Bentwaters, prior to running flypasts at Debach and other WW2 air base locations Suffolk.
See a video of the Liberty Belle visiting former RAF Bentwaters.
Background and to the trip and flight log of iberty Belle's European Tour.
* On September 9, 1944 the 390th Bomb Group attacked a target in Dusseldorf, Germany and suffered its second largest single mission loss of the war. Over the target just prior to bomb release, one of the low squadron B-17s was hit in the Bomb bay by flak. The 1000 lb. bombs exploded and nine of the twelve aircraft in the squadron were instantly destroyed or knocked out of formation.
Six of the nine went down over the target, one flew two hours on a single engine and landed at Paris, another "crippled plane" landed in Belgium and the other struggled back to its home base and landed long after the other thirty nine B-17s had returned from the mission. The one that came home was "Liberty Belle", she went on to complete 64 combat missions before being salvaged on February 18, 1945.
Source: Liberty Belle Foundation