Home Local News WORLD WAR II B-17 BOMBER TAKES FLIGHT OVER SIOUX CITY

WORLD WAR II B-17 BOMBER TAKES FLIGHT OVER SIOUX CITY

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YOU WILL SEE AN ICONIC B-17 FLYING FORTRESS BOMBER FLYING OVERHEAD IN SIOUX CITY THIS WEEK.

THE COMMEMORATIVE AIR FORCE HAS BROUGHT TWO RESTORED WORLD WAR TWO AIRCRAFT FOR PUBLIC VIEWING AND FLIGHTS TO SIOUX GATEWAY AIRPORT THIS WEEK.

DAN RAGAN IS ONE OF THE CREW ON THE B-17 KNOWN AS “TEXAS RAIDERS”,

RAGAN IS VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE PLANE AS HE FLEW ON IT DURING THE KOREAN WAR, STATIONED OUT OF HAWAII:

BOMBER1 OC……..IN 1953. :19

TEXAS RAIDERS IS ONE OF ONLY THREE FLYING FORTRESSES REMAINING THAT ARE ACTIVELY FLYING IN THE U.S. TODAY AND IS AN ACCURATELY RESTORED B-17 WITH MACHINE GUNS AND PERIOD-SPECIFIC EQUIPMENT.

RAGAN SAYS THE BOMBER DIDN’T FLY OVER KOREA, BUT HAD A SPECIAL TASK:

BOMBER2 OC……….KILLING THE FLEET. :21

HE SPENT OVER 2000 HOURS FLYING ON MISSIONS.
RAGAN ALSO SPENT TIME IN IOWA AS AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER AFTER HIS MILITARY SERVICE, COMING UP FROM DALLAS , TEXAS:

BOMBER3 OC………SUMMER WEAR IN CEDAR RAPIDS. :25

DESPITE THE COLD IN CEDAR RAPIDS, HE DOES HAVE ONE FAVORITE MEMORY OF IOWA:

BOMBER4 OC…………CAN EVER HAVE. :14

THE B-17 AND A SNJ/T6 TEXAN ADVANCED TRAINER IN WHICH THOUSANDS OF AIRMEN TRAINED FOR COMBAT WILL BE IN SIOUX CITY NOW THROUGH 24TH FOR THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF SIOUX GATEWAY AIRPORT.

TICKETS FOR COCKPIT TOURS AND FLIGHTS ARE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC FROM 10:00 AM TO 4:00 PM THROUGH SUNDAY.

THOSE WHO WISH TO FLY CAN CALL 855-FLY-A-B17 (1-855-359-2217) OR RESERVE ONLINE AT B17TEXASRAIDERS.ORG SEE MORE ON FACEBOOK AT WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/B17TEXASRAIDERS