Ellijay Civil Air Patrol Tours a Piece of History

The Memphis Belle of World War II and movie fame visited Cherokee County Airport and opened its doors and turrets for public tour. Members and guest of the 507th Ellijay Composite Squadron toured the Memphis Belle with the pilot and crew of the historic Boeing B-17, learning the history of the B-17 and aerospace education.

During the tour, CAP members were treated to stories of the missions flown over Germany during the war, the efforts to restore the aircraft to flying status after years of neglect and a first hand view of the working components of the aircraft. The tour included opportunities to sit in the pilot and copilot seats, the navigator, radio operator and gunner stations with explanations of how the equipment worked more than 60 years ago.

The Memphis Belle is a heavy bomber dubbed the “Flying Fortress” and was one of the first B-17s to complete 25 missions with the original crew during WWII. It was returned to the states after it had been deemed too fragile due to battle damaged to continue flying missions. The crew of Memphis Belle was then sent on tours of the U.S. to participate in “war bond tours” in cities across the country.

Civil Air Patrol members study many important and interesting sciences. If you want to learn more about CAP, please contact: 1Lt Greg Altman, 706-202- 9970 or 1Lt Don Murray, 706-273-1553. Visit our squadron website at: www.ga507.org.