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August 1998 Jim Marsteller
In August of 1998 the opportunity arose to take a ride on the B-24 All American. It landed with a B-17 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on their yearly freedom tour of the US. My good friend Linda Jordan and her sister, Joyce Hyson were giving their father, Harold Zimmerman a birthday present ride on the All American and just happened to get an extra ticket for me. Aren't they sweet! Harold and I are great friends and share a common interest in the Liberator. We had traveled together many times in the past, going to air shows and special WWII events. During the war, Harold was part of a B-24 air crew, his position, nose turret gunner.
Arriving at Lancaster Airport on a Saturday evening we were briefed about flight. Harold and I would be taking the last flight of the day, which turned out the be the best time to fly as the pilot kept the ship in the air a little longer, and the sun was low in the sky, that made for some great photographs.
My plan was to phogtograph in each position of the aircraft, and try to get the feel of what the Books crew felt as they lifted off of the Wendling runway back those many years ago. It’s hard to discribe the flight in words. It’s like that old saying goes, “you had to be there”, but I must say It was worth every penny of the cost. The raw smell of fuel, the over powering sound of the engines, the air gushing back through main structure, the vibrations and the sights were all there. Now I knew what Uncle Jim experienced when he lifted off, except for one thing. No one was shooting at me during my flight.
Photos of the B-24
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