A rare formation

[Bill Murray]

Hi Keith:
Aircraft are not my thing, but I had a rare experience today here in a suburb of Atlanta, Ga. USA.

We have a commercial aviation airfield about 5 km from my store that has a fairly long runway as they cater to corporate jets.

I have not found out yet the details, but in any case, someone was doing 30 minute tours with a B-17 from this airfield today and I was privileged to be at the end of the runway on one of it's takeoffs.

$400 US per pop, and if I had the pocket change I would have done it.

It was configured as a chin turret job from what I could see, the chin turret being rather low in the front and I could not see if it had two or four machine guns. Of course, all fake or demilitarized but it did have machine gun barrels sticking out everywhere.

The sound was incredible and in a very distant way reminded me of my childhood when I lived in San Diego, California 1941-1944 in an area surrounded by Navy Air bases, Marine Corps Air Bases and what I remember as the Convair/Consolidated/Vultee plant by the harbour. Probably remember the name wrong but I do remember this huge plant off of the main highway that was still painted and draped with cammo as late as 1955.

Nostalgia really is great.
Bill