Sentimental Journey, Commemorative Air Force Hanger, Arizona Wing, Falcon Field, Mesa, Arizona

Sentimental Journey was undergoing its yearly maintenance before embarking on its annual summer tour throughout the U.S.

With an 8000-pound bomb load, thirteen .50 caliber machine guns, 3750 mile range and crew of 10, the B-17 Flying Fortress was one of the most important aircraft of WWII. Each of its four Wright Cyclone 1820 ci 9-cylinder air-cooled turbocharged radial engines produced 1200 hp at 2500 rpm at takeoff, consumed 200 gallons of fuel per hour and required a 37 gallon oil tank for lubrication during long missions over hostile German Luftwaffe territory. Sentimental Journey, a B-17G model, is based during the winter at the Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force in Mesa, Arizona. It is a tribute to the men who flew a B-17 in combat and who only can appreciate the trauma of battle, the horror of ME 109 Messerschmitt fighters and the feeling of helplessness in flying through the telltale black puffs of antiaircraft flak.

35mm film print scanned to digital