MDFrench
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Hey all! This Sunday I will be going to the Georgia Air Show, where they will be featuring, among other things, Dave Tallichet's Memphis Belle replica!
I am very excited to see this plane. See, I spent my early years in Tennessee and spent a lot of time in Memphis, where my Dad grew up. My grandfather (now 86), was active in getting the real Memphis Belle saved from destruction, and he was also the very man who wired and maintained the display lights for the Belle when it sat outside the Memphis Armoury years and years ago.
He was personal friends with the crew and Margaret Polk, the lady for whom the Belle was named.
I visited the plane on Mud Island numerous times and even had the priviledge of sitting in the pilot's seat of the plane, and when I moved to England, I of course started spending a lot of my time at RAF Bassingbourn where the Belle flew out of in WWII, and getting to know the curator at the time, Vince Hemmings.
Well, when time came to do my Eagle Scout project, I decided to aid in the restoration of the air tower for the 50th anniversary of the Belle's 25th mission. I spent weekend after weekend there at that quiet airfield, having coffee with the old guys there who remember the Battle of Britain as kids, and Otto Meikus, a crew chief on the B-17 Jack the Ripper.
I went through the archives of the air tower and designed a big display for the Belle and Shoo Shoo Baby. May 17, 1993 arrived and Col. Bob Morgan, pilot of the Belle, arrived and cut the ribbon on the display. That evening, he spoke at my Court of Honor and pinned my Eagle Medal on me. I was saddened greatly this summer when I learned of his death.
Anyway, that's my story. Thanks for reading it. I'll send all of you photos of the Belle replica from the air show.
Tally Ho,
Mike
I am very excited to see this plane. See, I spent my early years in Tennessee and spent a lot of time in Memphis, where my Dad grew up. My grandfather (now 86), was active in getting the real Memphis Belle saved from destruction, and he was also the very man who wired and maintained the display lights for the Belle when it sat outside the Memphis Armoury years and years ago.
He was personal friends with the crew and Margaret Polk, the lady for whom the Belle was named.
I visited the plane on Mud Island numerous times and even had the priviledge of sitting in the pilot's seat of the plane, and when I moved to England, I of course started spending a lot of my time at RAF Bassingbourn where the Belle flew out of in WWII, and getting to know the curator at the time, Vince Hemmings.
Well, when time came to do my Eagle Scout project, I decided to aid in the restoration of the air tower for the 50th anniversary of the Belle's 25th mission. I spent weekend after weekend there at that quiet airfield, having coffee with the old guys there who remember the Battle of Britain as kids, and Otto Meikus, a crew chief on the B-17 Jack the Ripper.
I went through the archives of the air tower and designed a big display for the Belle and Shoo Shoo Baby. May 17, 1993 arrived and Col. Bob Morgan, pilot of the Belle, arrived and cut the ribbon on the display. That evening, he spoke at my Court of Honor and pinned my Eagle Medal on me. I was saddened greatly this summer when I learned of his death.
Anyway, that's my story. Thanks for reading it. I'll send all of you photos of the Belle replica from the air show.
Tally Ho,
Mike
