PORT ANGELES — Echoes from the past reverberated through the fuselage of a B-17G Flying Fortress on Wednesday afternoon as it took flight over the North Olympic Peninsula.
The vintage World War II bomber is at William R. Fairchild International Airport through Friday as part of the Wings of Freedom tour.
The old war plane, nicknamed Nine-O-Nine, is accompanied by a TP-51C Mustang fighter modified for two-seat, dual-control training, and a B-24J Liberator bomber and a B-25 Mitchell, a two-engine bomber of the type that carried the Doolittle Raiders in missions over Tokyo during WWII.
Nine-O-Nine is not the original aircraft to bear that name and never saw actual combat, being commissioned too late to join the war.
About 10 people, including local media, were taken Wednesday for a “VIP” flight in the belly of the mechanical beast.
The tour was personal for Miram Ritchie of Sequim, 91, who served in the Army Air Corps as a radio repairman and mechanic during the war.
He eventually became crew chief of a P-51 Mustang, which escorted bombers such as the Nine-O-Nine on bombing runs.
The flight was one for the books, Ritchie said, and reminded him of people he had served alongside.
Others along for the tour owe their very existence to the aircraft’s legendary ability to survive on bombing runs over Europe.
Andrew Walker of Port Angeles remembered his great-grandfather, John Chojnacki, on the half-hour flight.
Walker was joined on the flight by his grandfather, 70-year-old Daniel Shotthafer of Port Angeles.
Chojnacki was a top turret gunner for a B-17 flying with the 15th Air Force in Italy, Shotthafer said.
Chojnacki flew about 35 missions over enemy territory and had his fair share of close calls, Shotthafer said.
On one occasion, flak from a German anti-aircraft gun exploded through his turret, bouncing around inside like a ball in a pinball machine.
One of the pieces of shrapnel slammed into Chojnacki’s head.
“We actually have the helmet still that saved his life,” Walker said.
“If he hadn’t had that helmet on, I wouldn’t be here.”
Walker’s grandmother wasn’t born until after the war.
Being inside a B-17 gave Walker a tangible connection to Chojnacki’s past.
“It is very cool to be able to step into something that my great-grandfather flew in 70 years ago,” he said.
“The fact that the thing can still fly is amazing.”
Shotthafer, Chojnacki’s son-in-law, carried the shrapnel that had nearly killed Chojnacki over 70 years ago along with him on the flight.
He also wore the Army Air Corps cap his father, Edward Shotthafer, had worn during his time in the service during the war.
Edward Shotthafer served out of Mitchell Field on the East Coast and was not sent overseas.
According to the U.S. Air Force, from May 1942 to July 1945, the 8th Air Force executed America’s daylight strategic bombing campaign against Nazi-occupied Europe.
The missions carried a high price: Altogether, the Eighth suffered about half of the Air Force’s casualties, including more than 26,000 dead.
“They lost more men in the 8th Air Force than the entire Marines did in the Pacific Theater,” said Matt McCauley, who has piloted the Nine-O-Nine for the past 17 years.
“Every time I get in here, I start to think about the kids and them flying the airplane and going to Germany day in and day out. It always amazes me how they did it.
“There are no creature comforts in this thing. If you are going through a flak field, you are getting the snot beat out of you.”
Unlike many other B-17s, the original Nine-O-Nine was able to get its various crews safely back from German-occupied territory 140 times during the war.
The war machine “never lost a crew member to combat and never missed a target,” McCauley said.
“It is considered the luckiest airplane in the 8th Air Force.”
While the vintage warplanes are at William R. Fairchild International Airport, the public can tour or fly aboard them between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. today and between 9 a.m. and noon Friday.
Walkthrough tours cost $6 for children 12 and younger, $12 for adults; WWII veterans can tour for free.
Half-hour bomber flights on the B-24J Liberator cost $450 per person.
Flights on the B-25 Mitchell are $400.
Flight training in the P-51 costs $2,200 for 30 minutes and $3,200 for an hour.
For reservations, book at the airport or phone the nonprofit Collings Foundation, based in Stow, Mass., at 800-568-8924.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
