Memphis Belle

[Ray]

Sorry,just made a mistake and put this in the wrong place.This is the proper one.

Last sunday I was watching the 1990 Memphis Belle film and in the end appears a note saying that the plane did its final mission , the 25 th, on may 17.
That´s today, the 74 th anniversary.
Regards, Ray

 

[Ray1970]

Thanks for sharing that information.

Oh, and you have the coolest name ever.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Ray, you have a keen eye.

Thanks.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Great planes......Greater pilots.........

 

[chief38]

A bunch of years ago ( about 13 I believe) I was going to the appliance store with my son and happened to be driving past one of the local Airports. My wife calls me and tells us that there is some famous pilot and plane there and I should stop bye - so we did.

We both met Col. Robert Morgan who was the original Memphis Belle Pilot! We chatted with him for about 20 minutes, bought his book which he did autograph to us, and we took a full tour of the Memphis Belle plane.

Now for all you purists out here, the Memphis Belle plane we toured was not the original - that one is in a museum in TN I do believe, but the one we were on is a restored WWll B17 that is a dead ringer for the original - and this one still flies!

It was a GREAT day and packed full of history! I have many photos of my son & I on the plane and with Col. Morgan - an experience I will never forget!

PS: While Col. Morgan is no longer with us...... you might consider buying his autobiographical book. It is excellent and his life long exploits & WWll experiences are quite interesting as he was quite the lady's man and a "character". I read the entire book in 2 days - couldn't put it down!

 

[glenncal1]

On youtube, the original documentary film on the Memphis Belle's final flight directed by William Wyler is an outstanding watch:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G28ys4TEpao[/ame]

 

[Watchdog]

It's kind of a funny thing about the film, Memphis Belle.

Released in 1990, it's a decent film with some really good actors in it...Matthew Modine, Eric Stolz, Billy Zane, and so on. Most of them, though, have sorta disappeared from the movie making scene. Seems like the last time I saw Modine and Stolz in a film was in Fluke.

David Strathairn still shows up pretty regular...last I saw him was in The Bourne Ultimatum.

But the film is rarely seen on television any more. Wonder what happened to it.

 

[jdlii]

The original Memphis Belle, for many years, was displayed on a specially built platform in front of the TN National Guard Armory on Union Avenue in Memphis, TN. I was born in Memphis and the house in which my family lived was about two blocks away and I remember seeing it often.

The plane was moved to the TN Air Guard hangers at the airport in Memphis for "restoration" in the late 70's and I was able to take a look that it and another B-17G that had just been painted at the Boeing plant. That aircraft was on its way to a museum in Florida. The crew members of the Memphis Belle had scratched their names in the vertical stabilizer and they were, at that time, still legible.

The Memphis Belle was finally moved to a specially built facility/museum on Mud Island in downtown Memphis. The plane sat there for years and was on marginally protected from the weather. The USAF, which still had "ownership" of the craft, advised the city of Memphis to either take better care of the plane or that it would take possession.

Either the city agreed or the Air Force exercised its rights and the Memphis Belle was moved to Dayton, OH for a real restoration. It is supposed to be put on display in the near future but, it is, IMO, where it needs to be for everyone to see and appreciate its history.

 

[sheepdawg]

The original Memphis Belle, for many years, was displayed on a specially built platform in front of the TN National Guard Armory on Union Avenue in Memphis, TN. I was born in Memphis and the house in which my family lived was about two blocks away and I remember seeing it often.

The plane was moved to the TN Air Guard hangers at the airport in Memphis for "restoration" in the late 70's and I was able to take a look that it and another B-17G that had just been painted at the Boeing plant. That aircraft was on its way to a museum in Florida. The crew members of the Memphis Belle had scratched their names in the vertical stabilizer and they were, at that time, still legible.

The Memphis Belle was finally moved to a specially built facility/museum on Mud Island in downtown Memphis. The plane sat there for years and was on marginally protected from the weather. The USAF, which still had "ownership" of the craft, advised the city of Memphis to either take better care of the plane or that it would take possession.

Either the city agreed or the Air Force exercised its rights and the Memphis Belle was moved to Dayton, OH for a real restoration. It is supposed to be put on display in the near future but, it is, IMO, where it needs to be for everyone to see and appreciate its history.

I've lived in Memphis all of my life, my parents came here from Germany in 1952. The Memphis Belle sat in front of the TN National Guard Armory at the intersection of Hollywood and Central, not Union Ave, both very busy streets. My father would go out of his way to avoid that intersection, he'd seen enough B-17s.

 

[jdlii]

I've lived in Memphis all of my life, my parents came here from Germany in 1952. The Memphis Belle sat in front of the TN National Guard Armory at the intersection of Hollywood and Central, not Union Ave, both very busy streets. My father would go out of his way to avoid that intersection, he'd seen enough B-17s.

Your right, of course, on the location. I was several blocks off. My parents' house was located where the Boy Scout building is now located. The house was on Oakdale Street I don't believe that the Memphis Board of Education had been built on Avery at that time but, it could have been.