WWII Flying Fortress to visit Sugar Grove
By Daily Chronicle
The most recently restored World War II B-17 Flying Fortress, the Liberty Belle, is scheduled to visit the Aurora Municipal Airport in Sugar Grove June 20 and 21. Members of the public can take a half-hour ride on the plane from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. for $430, or can watch the flights at no charge.
There are only 14 B-17s still in flight today. More than 12,700 were produced between 1935 and 1945, and more than 4,700 were lost in combat. The planes also were used in Korea and Vietnam.
The Liberty Belle was built near the end of the war and never saw combat. It was sold in 1947 for scrap, but was then resold to Pratt & Whitney, a manufacturer of aircraft engines. The company donated the plane in 1968 to the Connecticut Aeronautical Historic Society, but it was badly damaged in a 1979 tornado. In 1987 it was sold to a private collector, and its restoration began in 1992.
For more information, visit www.libertyfoundation.org.
