One of 12 remaining B-17 bombers takes flight in Palm Springs, taking a step back in time

In the cockpit of a 1944 B-17 bomber parked outside the Palm Springs Air Museum, two pilots began to power up the aircraft, filling their surroundings with the whine of four massive engines and the pungent smell of gasoline. After a few seconds, the 1,200 horsepower engines roared to life, the plane’s 11 foot, seven inch propellers began to spin and it taxied out onto the runway at Palm Springs International Airport.

The majestic aircraft rattled its way down the tarmac for a surprisingly short time before lifting into the air with more grace than many modern commercial airliners. The bomber sounded like its 73 years of age, but didn’t feel like it in flight, holding steady as it was buffeted by harsh Coachella Valley winds.

Before takeoff Monday morning, Ray Fowler, one of the aircraft’s pilots, asked the assembled media group how many had been in a B-17 before. Two raised their hands. He then asked those who hadn’t been on the bomber before to raise their hands.

“Well, you’re not going to be impressed with the creature comforts,” Fowler said, laughing.

The plane, known as a “flying fortress” because of its 13 mounted .50 caliber machine guns, is like a time capsule. With red and blue wings and a pin-up girl painted alongside the plane’s name, the B-17 would look at home on the set of an Indiana Jones film.

At the rear of the plane are seats for the crew and machine gun stations, complete with machine guns, and the radio room, where buttons, dials and levers cover the walls and original radio equipment is bolted onto a built in desk. The fire extinguisher strapped onto the wall next to the radio looks like it could have been a prop from a history museum.

Separated from the radio room by a narrow walkway suspended over the bomb bay, Fowler and fellow pilot Scott Maher sat in an open and relatively modern looking cockpit. A small tunnel underneath their seats led to the plane’s glass nose, complete with dials and more machine guns and an almost 360 degree view of the aircraft’s surroundings.

The shrill ringing of a bell–a signal from the pilots to the passengers to take their seats for the landing–was barely audible over the combined roar of the engines and the wind coming through a large opening in the plane’s roof where a hatch had been removed.

On the flight, Garry Wing of local radio station KGX, said the experience made you think about the crewmembers that would have staffed the plane in combat situations.

“Can you imagine being up in this for 8 hours?” Wing said.

This week marks the first time this plane, the “Madras Maiden,” has been in Palm Springs. The Liberty Foundation, a non-profit "flying museum" which aims to preserve historic military aircraft and the stories of the men and women who served in them, has crisscrossed the country with B-17s for years. The Madras Maiden was brought into the rotation after a fire on another plane, which is still being repaired, Fowler said.

This year’s Salute to Veteran’s tour has already made stops in Long Beach and San Diego and will be continuing on to Salt Lake City, Casper, Cheyenne, Denver and Colorado Springs after leaving the desert. The Madras Maiden will be in Palm Springs through the weekend, and will be available to the public for flights and ground tours on Saturday and Sunday.

Almost 13,000 B-17 aircraft were constructed from 1935 to 1945. The planes were used in every theater of operation during World War II and almost 5,000 were lost in combat. B-17s were also used in Korea and Vietnam. Today, only  a dozen, including the Madras Maiden, remain operational, according to the Liberty Foundation.

The Madras Maiden was built in Burbank in 1944 but never saw combat. It was used for research purposes and as a Pathfinder–an aircraft which identifies and marks targets for other bombers–from 1944 to 1959, when it was sold to a private company and used to transport produce from the Caribbean to Florida. Four years later, it was sold to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and used as a fire ant sprayer.

Starting in 1979, the aircraft was owned by multiple museums who began to restore it before being leased to the Liberty Foundation, which spends about $1.5 million a year to keep the plane airworthy so it can provide “visitors the opportunity to take a step back in time and gain respect for the men and women who gave so much to protect our freedom,” the foundation said in a statement.

“Estimates place the number of World War II veterans dying each day at over 1,500,” the statement read. “This aircraft represents that legacy of courage and valor.”

After the half hour flight, the plane landed as gracefully as it took off and taxied back to the air museum to pick up the next group of passengers to be ferried into the skies and backwards through time.

Corinne Kennedy covers the west valley for The Desert Sun. She can be reached at Corinne.Kennedy@DesertSun.com, on Twitter @CorinneSKennedy or at 760-778-4625.

If you go:

What: B-17 Bomber flight and ground tours

Where: Palm Springs Air Museum, 745 N. Gene Autry Trail

When: April 29 and 30, flights in the mornings, ground tours in afternoon

How much: $450 for the flight, ground tours free

More information: Liberty Foundation (918) 340-0243

By the numbers:

Model: B-17

Number of crew required: 10

Weight: 34,000 lbs empty, 65,500 lbs with crew and bombs

Fuel capacity: 2,780 gallons

Flight range: 1,850 miles

Wingspan: 103 feet, nine inches

Length: 74 feet, four inches

Height: 19 feet, one inch

Number built: 12,732

Number still operational: 12