Restorers target 2018 for public display of Memphis Belle
DAYTON, Ohio — The fabled World War II bomber Memphis Belle will go on public display next spring at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force alongside John F. Kennedy’s presidential plane, an early Wright Brothers flyer and other national treasures.
The journey from the flak-ridden skies over occupied France and Germany to restoration and display in the Ohio museum has been long for one of the most celebrated American planes to survive the war.
The B-17F “Flying Fortress,” feted as one of the first to make it through the required 25 bombing missions, arrived at the museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in pieces a dozen years ago. It was in rough shape, having been on display outside for decades in its namesake city where it deteriorated from weather and vandalism.
Restoration work by an army of volunteers has continued for years, delayed by an expansion at the museum near Dayton and other restoration projects.
An unveiling of the restored warbird is scheduled for May 17, 2018 — the 75th anniversary of the crew’s 25th and final mission. The plane flew its final mission May 19, 1943.
The Memphis Belle will be displayed as the centerpiece of an exhibit on the strategic bombing campaign that broke the back of Germany’s wartime production.
“This is an American icon,” said Jeff Duford, curator of the Memphis Belle exhibit. “It’s like the flag that flew at Iwo Jima or the USS Arizona.”
Since B-17 parts are no longer manufactured, volunteers fabricated them from scratch and reassembled the plane inside a cavernous restoration hangar at the museum.
Greg Hassler, who is supervising the restoration, knows the clock is ticking. “We will have it done,” he vowed.