8 FLYPAST August 2018
NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE
Restored ‘Memphis Belle’ completed for display
The Memphis Belle, arguably the
most famous Boeing B-17 Flying
Fortress of them all, returned to
public display on May 17 at the
National Museum of the USAF in
Dayton, Ohio – 75 years after her
last mission.
The bomber, B-17F 41-24485,
which served with the Eighth
Air Force’s 91st Bomb Group at
Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire,
was the fi rst Flying Fortress to
accomplish 25 combat missions
over Europe and return to the US.
Formerly on display at Memphis,Tennessee, she moved to Dayton
in 2005 for restoration, which has
taken a 100-strong team of mainly
volunteers 14,000 hours to complete.
Now in ‘factory-fresh’ condition,
Memphis Belle features in a new
strategic bombardment exhibition at
the museum, which will include fi lm
of her missions retrieved from the
National Archives. The collection’s
B-17G 42-32076 Shoo Shoo Shoo
Baby will meanwhile be moved to the
Smithsonian’s National Air and Space
Museum in Washington, DC.
NORMAN WELLSAn archive image showing the crew of the ‘Memphis Belle’ after completing their fi nal mission
in May 1943.The starboard nose art on ‘Memphis Belle’.The aircraft is offi cially unveiled on May 17 in Dayton, Ohio.Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress 41-
‘Memphis Belle’ on display at the National
Museum of the USAF. ALL NATIONAL MUSEUM
OF THE USAF