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THE BOMBER         BY PAT BYRNE  

MANY OF YOU KNOW OF THE OLD AIRPLANE SERVICE STATION ON CLINTON HIGHWAY IN POWELL. I DRIVE BY IT REGULARLY ON MY WAY TO KNOXVILLE FROM CLINTON .  BUT HOW ABOUT A REAL AIRPLANE LOOMING ABOVE A SERVICE STATION?  A VERY FAMOUS ONE ON THE WEST COAST WAS THE “BOMBER” A TEXACO STATION IN MILWAUKEE , OREGON , ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTH OF PORTLAND . I DROVE PAST IT MANY TIMES IN THE LATE  40’S AND STOPPED FOR GAS ONCE OR TWICE, IT WAS HARD TO MISS. IT WAS A HUGE STATION, WITH 40 PUMPS, AND A BIG CREW.

WHAT IS UNIQE THO WAS HOW IT CAME  TO BE, AND WHAT HAS BECOME OF IT. THIS IS ALSO A TALE OF WHAT IT WAS LIKE IN THOSE EARLY POST WAR YEARS. REGULATIONS WERE NIL, SURPLUS WWII PLANES WERE A DIME A DOZEN

AND YOU WERE PRETTY MUCH ON YOUR OWN TO KILL YOURSELF IF YOU WISHED!!

ART LACEY GOT THE IDEA TO GET A SURPLUS AIRCRAFT TO ADVERTISE HIS STATION. ART WAS NOT AN EX MILITARY PILOT, HE HAD BEEN IN THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS , BUT HE WAS A PRIVATE PILOT. HE WENT TO ALTUS , OKLAHOMA IN 1947 AND BOUGHT A  SURPLUS B-17 FOR $13750!  HE INFORMED THEM HE WAS GOING TO PUT IT OVER HIS SERVICE STATION IN OREGON . THEY QUESTIONED HIS SANITY BUT APPARANTLEY NOT HIS ABILITY TO FLY IT.

HE ROUNDED UP A CREW OF LOCAL FARM HANDS TO HELP HIM GET IT READY TO FLY, THEY UNPICKLED IT AND GOT THE ENGINES RUNNING.  SINCE BASE REGULATIONS REQUIRED A CO-PILOT, ONE OF THE FARM HANDS       SNUCK AN OLD MANNEQUIN IN THE COPILOTS SEAT, ART PUT A CAP ON IT’S HEAD AND AWAY HE WENT FOR A TEST FLIGHT, ART’S FIRST TIME IN A MULTIENGINED PLANE TO SAY NOTHING OF A B-17!!

BOTTOM LINE, HE COULDN’T GET THE WHEELS DOWN SO ENDED UP IN A SPECTACULAR WHEELS UP CRASH LANDING THAT WIPED OUT HIS BOMBER AND ANOTHER NEAR THE RUNWAY! THE AUTHORITIES PROMPTLY WROTE BOTH AIRPLANES OFF TO WIND DAMAGE, ASKED FOR $1500 MORE, AND  POINTED  TO ANOTHER, A

  SHINY  SILVER, VEGA BUILT B-17 WITH 26 HOURS

ON IT, TAIL NUMBER 45-485790. ART AND HIS CREW DEPICKLED THIS ONE AND GOT IT READY. TWO OTHER PILOTS FROM HOME JOINED HIM, ONE WITH B-17 EXPERIENCE, AND  OFF THEY WENT.

FIRST STOP WAS PALM SPRINGS FOR FUEL, THEN ON NORTH, DESTINATION KLAMATH FALLS . THEY RAN INTO BAD WEATHER, FLYING BY DEAD RECKONING THEY GOT LOST, ALMOST RAN INTO A MOUNTAIN, FOUND A HOLE IN THE UNDERCAST, SPOTTED A TINY TOWN, BUZZED BACK AND FORTH, SCARING THE WITS OUT OF THE TOWNS PEOPLE, FINALLY SPOTTED A ROOF WITH “FALL RIVER MILLS” ON IT, LOCATED THE TOWN ON A MAP AND REALIZED THEY WERE ALMOST 100 MILES OF COURSE. THEY FINALLY SPOTTED A RAILROAD TRACK AND FOLLOWED IT TO   KLAMATH FALLS . AFTER GASSING UP THEY HEADED TO BEND, RAN INTO A SNOW STORM, DROPPED BELOW THE OVERCAST AND FLEW HOME AT 800FT, BUZZING ART’S HOME IN MONMOUTH TO LET ALL KNOW HE WAS HOME!   THEY LANDED AT TROUTDALE OREGON , AND THAT WAS THE END OF FLIGHT FOR THE B-17!!!

ART SUBSEQUENTLY ACQUIRED A SURPLUS BT-13 WHICH I REMEMBER SEEING AT THE STATION. HE ALSO LATER ACQUIRED AND APPARANTLEY FLEW AN AT-6  AND A P-51!

ART SAID THE TOUGHEST PART WAS GETTING THE BOMBER TO HIS STATION. HE HAD DIFFICULTY GETTING PERMITS SO HE FINALLY “JUST LOADED IT ON FOUR TRUCKS AND MOVED IT AT 2AM ANYWAY”!

ART SUBSEQUENTLY BUILT A RESTAURANT AT THE SITE, GAVE AWAY  THE TURRETS, GUNS, ETC. TO OTHER B-17’S UNDER RESTORATION. 

ART PASSED AWAY IN 2000. NOW HIS FAMILY HAS STARTED A PROGRAM TO RESTORE “LACY LADY”. YOU CAN READ ALL ABOUT IT AT  www.thebomber.com

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Last modified: April 08, 2006