Liberty Belle

13 June 2011

:::::Important Update:::::
The Liberty Belle had to ditch when an engine caught fire shortly after takeoff from Aurora, Illinois.
The aircraft landed safely in a corn field and all crew members and passengers escaped.
Unfortunately, this beautiful aircraft was completely destroyed.

More details to follow...

(Photo by Dan McHale / June 13, 2011)

The Liberty Belle
by Luft

15 Feb 2009 - The Liberty Belle launched the 2009 flying season at PDK today DeKalb- Peachtree Airport).

B17 Liberty Belle
Cherokee County Airfield
08 February, 2009

The Liberty Belle's last day at Cherokee Airfield was 08 Feb 2009. The launch of the 2009 season began the next day.

The ball turret access door.

The B17 cockpit

.50 caliber rounds

.50 Cals

Thomas A. Holland
Tail Gunner
447 BG
709BS
I Bailed Out Here

The Liberty Belle B17 at Cherokee County Airfield, Georgia
08 November 2008

The Liberty Belle

B17G

Liberty Belle - 15 November 2008

View of the aft edge of the wing up to the top turret and cockpit.

Area above the turbocharger - notice the duct that the heated air flows into.

B17 Wright Cyclone 9 engine exhaust system (removed)

The dependable and mighty Wright-Cyclone 9-cylinder radial engine.
These jugs are enormous.

From the tail gun you can get a good view forward up to the right and left waist guns.

High resolution photos of the Liberty Belle B17 are galleries below:

On September 9, 1944 the 390th Bomb Group attacked a target in Dusseldorf, Germany and suffered its second largest single mission loss of the war. Over the target just prior to bomb release, one of the low squadron B-17s was hit in the Bomb bay by flak. The 1000 lb. bombs exploded and nine of the twelve aircraft in the squadron were instantly destroyed or knocked out of formation.

Six of the nine went down over the target, one flew two hours on a single engine and landed at Paris, another "crippled plane" landed in Belgium and the other struggled back to its home base and landed long after the other thirty nine B-17s had returned from the mission. The one that came home was "Liberty Belle", she went on to complete 64 combat missions before being salvaged on February 18, 1945.

Many thanks to the ground crew of the Liberty Belle for allowing fw190.org to take photographs of this beautiful aircraft.
We wish the staff a safe and successful season in 2009!
For more information please visit:

http://www.libertyfoundation.org

1/25/2010 - Another Visit to the "Belle" at Cherokee Airfield, Canton, GA.
http://fw190.org/B17LibertyBelle