AIR FORCE WILL DISPLAY WORLD WAR II BOMBERS AT CAPE AIRPORT

Rather than waiting for the people to come to the museum, the Confederate Air Force Arizona Wing flies the museum to the people.

The CAF Arizona Wing will display its fully restored B-17G Flying Fortress World War II bomber, Sentimental Journey, at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport Aug. 1-4. The Cape Girardeau visit is one of 60 stops on the mobile museum's annual nationwide tour.

The plane will arrive at the airport at noon Aug. 1. The display is part of the airport's Open Air Show scheduled for Aug. 3-4. Other highlights of the show include aircraft presentations by the CAF St. Louis Wing and a visit by Maj. Bruce Thomas of Louisiana and his A-10 Warthog.

"The CAF has brought the plane here before," said Airport Manager Mark Seesing, "and they thought it would be a good opportunity to come back through. They know this is a good area to get a lot of people out to see their equipment."

Considered the most authentically restored Flying Fortress bomber, Sentimental Journey is part of the CAF's "Ghost Squadron" aircraft collection. Nearly 13,000 B-17s were assembled during WWII, but Sentimental Journey is one of only eight restored and flying planes of its type in the country.

"The fact that the CAF flies the plane around for others to see gives good testimonial of its nostalgic and historical as well as monetary value," said John Farquhar, owner of Mid States Aeromotive Inc., which operates at the airport.

Farquhar once helped repair one of Sentimental Journey's motors at an air show in St. Louis. "The engine just gave up," he said. "A bunch of the guys from here in Cape went up there to help out. It was just a good gesture on our part; there was no money involved.

"There are very few of these planes left, and they're irreplaceable. We just wanted to keep the plane going."

Farquhar said Sentimental Journey and other planes of its kind represent the work of many people not only those who flew the planes but also those who built them.

"Some of the most unsung heroes of World War II were the people who put these planes together," he said.

These manufacturers rolled Sentimental Journey off the assembly line in 1944, and the bomber first saw action in the Pacific after being accepted into the Air Force March 13, 1945. It later spent three years as a photo-mapping plane and was converted to the configuration DB-17-G for service as an air-sea rescue craft.

The plane served with the 3215th Drone Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida as a DB-17-P in the 1950s. It was transferred to military storage in 1959 and then became a civilian plane for 18 years. Sentimental Journey was donated to the CAF in 1978.

Efforts by the Arizona Wing spanning a period of four years brought the plane to full operational readiness nine years ago. The 48,726-pound plane can reach a speed of 302 mph with a cruising speed of 182 mph. Its span and length are 104 feet and 75 feet, respectively.

The plane is equipped with four 1,200-horsepower "Cyclone" radial piston engines. Its bomb-load capacity is eight tons. It now flies the colors of the 457th Bomb Group, 750th Bomb Squadron, once based at Glatton, England. Its nose bears the famous World War II pinup pose of Betty Grable, authorized by her widower, Harry James.

Sentimental Journey now travels across the country each year as an educational and patriotic exhibit dedicated to those who gave their lives during World War II. In addition to having the opportunity to view the bomber, which played an important role in achieving victory in the war, spectators will have a chance to crawl through the plane, look out of its turrets and trace their fingers over its machine-gun triggers.

The CAF is a volunteer, non-profit organization. The Sentimental Journey tour is financed through donations, $3 fees for passage through the aircraft and sale of memorabilia. The money is used to offset the plane's maintenance and operational expenses, which include a $600-per-hour fuel cost. The CAF relies on the support of the communities it visits for the money necessary to fund the tour.