Visual Approach

From any perspective, the Boeing B–17G Flying Fortress is an impressive machine. Today the head-turning roar of a Fort’s four Wright R-1820-97 Cyclones usually heralds its arrival at an airshow. But these machines have a subtle side as well; witness the Texas sun silently illuminating the polished flanks of Sentimental Journey, the shadow on her massive vertical stabilizer slowly shrinking. Soon the silence will be broken, first by the crowds that will encircle her, and then by the roar of those four Cyclones as the historic aircraft—operated by the Commemorative Air Force’s Airbase Arizona and based at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa—again returns to the skies.

Subject: Boeing B–17G Flying Fortress Sentimental Journey
Where: Midland, Texas
Photographer: Mike Collins

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