|
Image of the Day Images that will blow your mind - every day. [Blog] [RSS] [XML] |
|
Thread Tools | Rate Thread | Display Modes |
01-25-2016, 10:53 PM | #1 |
The future is unwritten
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
|
January 26th, 2016: Bomber Gasoline
Brrr, bomb and gasoline don't belong in the same sentence.
Ever have one of those friends that was always the wild and crazy one, would bet on anything, take any dare, guaranteed entertainment for anybody in his vicinity? Art Lacey was one of those people. In 1947 he figured he could boost business at his Milwaukie, Oregon gas station by perching a B-17 on top. Of course he was right, but easier said than done. With $15,000 he borrowed from a friend, he went to OK and bought a B-17 from the government for $13,000. Since he had only flown single engines, he got a manual and dressmaker’s dummy to fake having a copilot, and took off. He crashed on landing, went back and talked the Air force into selling him a better plane for $1500, had two friends come down from OR, to dry OK, with a case of whiskey for bribing, and flew back to OR, stopping to buy gas with a bad check in CA. It got pretty weird back home, but he got his way, and ran his 48 pump station/restaurant until 1990. The plane was taken down from it’s 64 year perch in 2014. Cut up for scrap? Hell no, a bunch of old vets formed a foundation to make that sumbitch fly again. They figure they can do it for $4million dollars. This plane had been stripped of everything inside that could be removed, for souvenirs or other B-17 projects. Lacey's story, as told by his daughter, is at the foundation website. After the first couple paragraphs they send you to another page on their site, like entering through the gift shop, but the story is well worth reading. I suspect his wife qualifies for canonization.
__________________
The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump. |
01-26-2016, 06:36 AM | #2 |
still says videotape
Join Date: Feb 2001
Posts: 26,813
|
I keep imagining a world where those planes went home with their crews. Imagine the weird infrastructure that would have developed around a population that assumes regular flight.
__________________
If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis |
01-26-2016, 06:43 AM | #3 |
™
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 27,717
|
I'd go to that gas station if it was local.
|
01-26-2016, 08:01 AM | #4 | |||
The future is unwritten
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
|
Quote:
Besides, with 4 officers and 6 crew, who takes it home? Quote:
Quote:
__________________
The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump. |
|||
01-26-2016, 08:29 AM | #5 |
Banned
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 660
|
Milwaukie, Oregon has been absorbed into the greater Portland area.
There are 2 aerospace museums VERY nearby. One is in Tillamook, on the coast, and the other is in McMinnville--the one where they keep Howard Hughes's "Spruce Goose". Haven't been in to see the Goose up close yet, but you can clearly see its outline from Highway 99W when headed coast-ward from Portland. Hopefully one or both of those museums will hear about this and want to participate, if they haven't been contacted already. I'm not HUGE into machines or war history, but I do hope to see the Spruce Goose sometime. Also, I've been squawking for YEARS now about going to the new OMSI in Portland because they have the USS Blueback, famous for doing the jaw-dropping breach stunt in The Hunt for Red October, a movie I truly love. So there is a thriving local interest in machines of war and history all around that station. He may stand a pretty good chance. |
01-26-2016, 03:11 PM | #6 |
The Un-Tuckian
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: South Central...KY that is
Posts: 39,517
|
What, pray tell, is a 'bomber brokerage'?
__________________
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, EPA, FBI, DEA, CDC, or FDIC. These statements are not intended to diagnose, cause, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you feel you have been harmed/offended by, or, disagree with any of the above statements or images, please feel free to fuck right off. |
01-26-2016, 03:22 PM | #7 | |
The Un-Tuckian
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: South Central...KY that is
Posts: 39,517
|
Quote:
Here's a shot of his house at Jumbolair:
__________________
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, EPA, FBI, DEA, CDC, or FDIC. These statements are not intended to diagnose, cause, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you feel you have been harmed/offended by, or, disagree with any of the above statements or images, please feel free to fuck right off. |
|
01-26-2016, 03:29 PM | #8 |
The Un-Tuckian
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: South Central...KY that is
Posts: 39,517
|
We even have one our own dang self...only slightly more modest:
__________________
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, EPA, FBI, DEA, CDC, or FDIC. These statements are not intended to diagnose, cause, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you feel you have been harmed/offended by, or, disagree with any of the above statements or images, please feel free to fuck right off. |
01-26-2016, 08:16 PM | #9 |
Deplorable
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 767
|
When I read the story of that old bomber, one thing popped into my mind...
Han Solo's voice saying "Flying a B-17 ain't like dusting crops, boy!" Am I weird? |
01-26-2016, 08:54 PM | #10 |
Pithy Euphemist
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 19
|
It surprises me that Oregonians can do amazing stuff like this, but they can't pump their own gas!
|
01-26-2016, 10:43 PM | #11 |
The future is unwritten
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 71,105
|
If Oregonians could pump their own gas, they wouldn't have all those testimonials from community leaders who started out as pump jockeys at Bomber, in their teens.
__________________
The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump. |
01-27-2016, 07:13 AM | #12 |
UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 20,012
|
Aviation estates. What an amazing concept.
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | |
|
|