But at an air show at San Marcos last year, when I asked a CAF member
what they were "commemorating" with their new name, he replied, "The
Confederacy, of course." I went through "Sentimental Journey" at an air
show in Billings some years ago and got a bunch crew autographs on a
picture of that very nice airplane.

"Brian Burger" wrote in message
.tc.ca...
Spent a cooler than usual hour and a half at the airport this
morning -
crawling all over the Commemorative Air Force's[1] B17G "Sentimental
Journey", which is here for a few days before it heads off the the big
Abbotsford Airshow this weekend.

They don't get up to Canada much - haven't even been to Abbotsford in
a
few years - and there's only a dozen or so flying B17s in the world,
so
this was a huge treat!

She's a big, shiny bird, all glossy aluminum and rivets, but really,
really cramped inside. I'm 5'11" and in good shape, and it was still a
bit
of a challenge getting around in some areas of the fusalage! Getting
from
the nose hatch up to the cockpit requires minor gymnastics, and the
catwalk through the bomb-bay is only about seven inches wide!

I bought some pins, took a lot of pictures, and felt honoured to be
able
to examine such an awesome piece of aviation history, especially one
that's still flying and in really, really good condition.

'Sentimental Journey's homepage is he
http://www.arizonawingcaf.org/b17.asp

When I get the photos developed I might post some of the good ones to
my
website - I'll post here if I do!

Brian.
[1] Yes, I know they used to be the 'Confederate etc etc' -
Commemorative
is a far better name, I think. They do commemorate WW2, 'Confederate'
is
from the wrong war, and besides, why should any organization be happy
calling itself the 'Racist Losers Air Force' in the 21st Century?