B-17 bomber Liberty Belle visits Bangor After being repaired, classic World War II plane stops at BIA for public viewing

BANGOR – The hot plane is so cramped and claustrophobic that it’s hard to believe 10 men once flew over the Atlantic Ocean in it. A visitor can’t even stand up in the body of the aircraft, and the exposed gun turret underneath the plane can be reached only by crawling through a hole in the floorboard.

A revived B-17 bomber, known as the Liberty Belle, is visiting the Bangor International Airport through Sunday. Retrieved from the depths of a lake in Canada, the renewed aircraft now offers scenic flights, tours, and a historical glimpse into the World War II era.

The Liberty Belle is parked at the General Aviation Terminal at the Bangor Avitat and can be viewed by the public until Sunday, July 30. It will return for public tours Friday and Saturday, Aug. 12 and 13.

In 1998, Robert Mester, director of Underwater Admiralty Sciences, a nonprofit organization based in Kirkland, Wash., and designed to lead underwater archaeology expeditions, led a 12-person team to search and recover the lost plane in Dyke Lake, Labrador, Newfoundland.

After six years of restoration, the plane is refreshed to its original state and now soars through the air.

“They’re disappearing, and to have this restored to flying condition is incredible,” Mester, who is visiting Bangor as a crew member, said Friday about the B-17 bomber.

On Dec. 23, 1947, while flying from Greenland to Goose Bay in Labrador, the aircraft lost navigational radio capabilities. Flying blind and fearing the worst, the pilot crash-landed the plane on the frozen lake.

The crew of the B-17 was rescued with no injuries three days later. The plane was left in the deep snow, and in the spring it was absorbed slowly into the lake.

Fifty-one years later, Mester’s crew searched for and found the craft. Along with the plane, tent tarps, tools and several items from the crash were found.

Mester said Friday he feels there is “no comparison” between the B-17 and the aircraft of today and said he preferred the bomber for takeoffs and landings than modern planes. He said he also felt it was great to be “back in touch with the aircraft.”

The names of those who crewed and restored the bare-bones aircraft now are scrawled on an inside door and panel.

Assembled from 1935 to 1945, these aircraft were considered “Flying Fortresses” as they carried 13 .50 caliber machine guns. Weighing 80,000 pounds, B-17s were the fighting machines used against the Germans.

Not having a name until after restoration, the bright gray bomber visiting Bangor was named for the actual Liberty Belle that flew in World War II and has its distinctive nose art of a cracked Liberty Bell and a uniformed pin-up girl. The B-17 was built toward the end of the war but never flew in combat, Mester said.

The aircraft remains one of 12 still in flying condition, and it is the second B-17 currently to be visiting Maine.

Mester said the aircraft was dedicated to the 8th Airforce, 390th Bomber Group, sponsored by the Liberty Foundation, the nonprofit organization that supports the B-17 and its appearances.

For more information, contact the Liberty Foundation at (918) 340-0243 or www.libertyfoundation.org. More information about the “Liberty Belle” recovery can be found at www.usai.org and www.b17labrador.com.