Historic 'Liberty Belle' bomber reincarnate to fly at D-M air show

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jake Richmond
  • 355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  The pride of Don Brooks and the 390th Memorial Museum Foundation in Tucson -- a restored, wartime-configured B-17G aircraft -- will be on display at the Aerospace and Arizona Days air show here March 20-21, 2010.

"Liberty Belle," as the bomber reincarnate is called, is a product of history.

On May 26, 1944, Eighth Air Force's 390th Bomb Group accepted delivery of a B-17G bomber and assigned it to the 570th Bomb Squadron.

"Belle" flew bombing raids in World War II over France, Germany, Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Holland for a total of eight months. But it was in a large scale attack on a target in Dusseldorf that the jet's history was written.

During a tight formation flight with several bombers, one of the aircraft was hit in the bomb bay with stray flak. The plan was carrying numerous 1,000-pound bombs, and all of them exploded. The chain of explosions destroyed six of the bombers instantly and damaged three others, including Liberty Belle.

Belle was the only damaged aircraft that was able to land at her home base; the others made emergency landings elsewhere.

The bomber was then repaired and continued in service, finishing with sixty-four missions in all. She took many more enemy strikes from flak and machine guns but managed to get her crew safely back home time after time.

Then, during a raid on an airfield at Cheb, Czechoslovakia, on Feb. 14, 1945, Liberty Belle finally damaged for the last time. Although two crewmen were killed and one was wounded, the remaining six crew members managed to fly the bomber back to their base in Framlingham, England. Liberty Belle was broken beyond repair and was salvaged a few days later.

Now, thanks to Mr. Brooks, president of the 390th MMF, the Belle flies again in reincarnation.

Built originally at the end of the war, the "basket case" B-17G acquired by Mr. Brooks was first used as a test bed for turboprop engines. It was almost totally destroyed in a tornado after while on display at an air museum in Connecticut. But, after years of work, Mr. Brooks restored the plane to its near-new, war-time configuration and painted it with 570th Bomb Squadron colors.

He named the aircraft Liberty Belle in reverence to its famous B-17 wartime counterpart. He now flies it around the country as a "flying museum" to honor his father, Elton Brooks, who served as a tail gunner on the original Liberty Belle, along with all of the other airmen who served America with courage and sacrifice.

To see Liberty Belle up close, visit the base March 20-21 during A&A Days, which will be free and open to the public. Attendees will see performances by the world-famous U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, veteran aerobatic aviator Tim Weber, Greg Poe and his Ethanol-Powered Fagen MX-2, the A-10 West Demonstration Team, Combat Search and Rescue, the U.S. Air Force Academy Wings of Blue - plus a free concert by Grammy Award-nominated country music artist Joe Nichols.

More information about the show, as well as descriptions of the aircraft and demonstration teams, will be posted regularly at www.dm.af.mil.