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Bomber bore hopes of U.S. on its wings

The B-17 Flying Fortress, a key part of World War II, will be displayed and flown.

By Eileen Schulte
Published January 25, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Bill Serne] Eddie Deerfield shows a model of a B-17F, like the one he flew in World War II and describes some of his experiences in it.

It was July 1943, and 19-year-old Eddie Deerfield was on the B-17 Flying Fortress Upstairs Maid heading back to England, having dropped 18 250-pound bombs on aircraft factories in Kassel, Germany.

At about 20,000 feet, he and the crew heard sounds like pebbles hitting a roof. It was artillery fire from the ground, the hot lead peppering the aircraft.

The B-17 plunged toward the North Sea. Deerfield tapped out frantic SOS radio signals, and the pilot screamed for the crew to throw everything out of the plane to lighten the load, dropped the tail and pancaked into the water.

"I thought, 'This is it,' " said Deerfield, 83, of Palm Harbor.

The airmen of the 303rd Bomb Group scrambled out within 45 seconds. The plane sank a half-minute later, leaving them to be picked up by British rescuers.

Not surprisingly, whenever Deerfield climbs into a B-17 Flying Fortress, he gets chills remembering that and other close calls during World War II.

On Monday, he'll share that hard-won knowledge, guiding schoolchildren on a tour of one of the last surviving planes of its kind at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.

The "Wings of Freedom Tour" features a fully restored 1944 Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Nine-O-Nine aircraft and 1944 Consolidated B-24J Liberator, both of which will be on display Friday through Monday.

For a donation of $10 for adults and $5 for children under 12, you can tour each aircraft inside and out. You can examine the cockpit, radio operator's station and the 12 machine guns that's how the B-17 got the name Flying Fortress.

And for $425, you can go on a 30-minute flight.

"There are only seven to eight B-17s left in the nation," said Hunter Chaney, marketing director for the Collings Foundation, the nonprofit organization organizing the event. "The B-24 is the only one in flying condition in the world."

Neither flew combat missions, but were used in the war effort.

The tour has touched down in 2,000 cities in the United States and hosts up to 4-million visitors annually.

The planes were considered the backbone of WWII's bombing campaigns and played a major part in winning the war.

Up close, they are impressive, Chaney said.

"When they power up, jaws drop and eyes widen a little bit," he said.

Chaney said about 18,000 B-24s were produced during the war, and about 13,000 B-17s.

When they came back damaged or shot up, they were destroyed and turned into scrap. That's why so few of them survive today.

During his time in the Air Corps, Deerfield flew 30 missions on the B-17, blowing up airfields, manufacturing plants and railroads in Germany, Poland, France, Holland and Norway.

For his service he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Purple Heart and four air medals.

Once, he had to bail out of a burning plane, parachuting onto a field and landing hard on his back. When he woke up, a farmer was standing over him with a pitchfork.

"He thought we were Germans," Deerfield said.

Fast Facts:

Wings of Freedom tour

Arrival: 2 p.m. Friday at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.

Ground tours: 2 to 5 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 9 a.m. to noon Monday.

Cost: $10 donation for adults and $5 donation for children under 12.

To fly: Call 1-800-568-8924 for reservations. Flights are available for a $425 donation.

On the Web: www. collingsfoundation.org

B-17 Flying Fortress

Crew: 10

Wingspan: 103 feet, 9.3 inches

Length: 74 feet, 9 inches

Height: 19 feet, 1 inch

Maximum speed: 250 mph

Service ceiling: 35,000 feet

Range: 2,400 miles

B-24 Liberator

Crew: 10

Wingspan: 110 feet

Length: 67 feet, 7 5/8 inches

Height: 18 feet

Maximum speed: 290 mph

Service ceiling: 28,000 feet

Range: 3,000 miles

[Last modified January 24, 2007, 23:08:22]