Sentimental Journey is a WWII B-17G Flying Fortress owned by the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) and assigned to the CAF's Arizona Wing at Falcon Field (FFZ), Mesa, Arizona. The 4-engine Warbird is based at the Arizona Wing during the fall and winter months, usually October through April, and goes on tour throughout America during the summer. Upon returning to the Arizona Wing each October, Sentimental Journey undergoes its annual maintenance, which usually takes about two months.

Since Sentimental Journey’s annual maintenance was completed a few days ago and she was scheduled for two tour flights on Saturday December 27, 2008, I decided to drop by the CAF to enjoy hearing the big bird startup and take to the air.

The two flights were flown back to back and took about one hour each, including taxiing and airtime. Since wind direction changed between the two flights, causing the takeoff and landing directions to change, this gallery includes photos from both tours to make a logical sequence of startup, departure and arrival.

All photos were taken hand-held under ambient light on December 27 using a Canon 5D dSLR and Canon 24-105/f4L IS lens, along with a Canon 20D and Canon 100-400/f4.5-5.6L IS lens.

This gallery is in progress, so please check back for updates.

However, before scampering off, don’t forget to checkout my other Warbirds and related galleries.

Thanks for looking.

Denny_D