Shlup insists that this is nothing more than some rich guy with too much time and money losing a useless, pointless toy. (A rich guy who apparently has made millions running an auto body repair shop in Ga. I own and run an auto repair shop and I'm by no means rich. I must have missed that seminar.....) Even so, I thought there might be some people who'd be interested in learning about this plane.

The link gives a little history of this plane, it's condition when found by the guy, and it's restoration. It also gives a history of the B-17 in general. This was a labor of love made possible by the sponsorship of some cool avionics companies, and tons of time, sweat, and money of many many interested people. (Or maybe all those individuals were false identities made by the one weird rich recluse so he could move money around freely to avoid taxes and also make it look like he had friends who cared. Rich people do that. He makes a number of small bank accounts and a few fake LLC's. He takes money from them and donates it to the "Liberty Belle Foundation". Obviously it's a fake foundation, and when all the money is there he sets the plane on fire and walks away with the insurance claim. So evil, but so brilliant. Touche, rich bumpkin from Georgia. Touche.) Either way it's a neat site.

I saw this plane at an air show once, and there was a veteran there who was crew on a different bomber. Still, seeing the plane really made him happy and he told me about some of the missions he went on. They were interesting (and scared the hell out of me). I know he wouldn't tell a complete stranger like me all the details, but I enjoyed listening and he enjoyed talking. If it makes those gentlemen and ladies who served during that time happy to see it in the air, it seems like a good enough reason to me. These things are really impressive in the flight. If you like this sort of thing, and get the opportunity to see one you should definitely try to make it out.

Here's the site. Liberty Belle.

P.S. I'm not trying to pick a fight with Shlup. She gave her opinion (several times ) on exactly how she felt. She's well within her rights to do that. Clearly we'll never agree on the significance of things like this, or this event. That's all fine and good with me, and there's no hard feelings on my end. Cest la vie.