Air show visitors take 'sentimental journey'

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Stephen Delgado
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Gonna take a Sentimental Journey.
Gonna set my heart at ease.
Gonna make a Sentimental Journey,
to renew old memories.

Sentimental Journey is a song by Doris Day and Les Brown's Band of Renown. It was released in 1945 and was Ms. Day's first number one song. Also in 1945, a new B-17G Flying Fortress was accepted by the Army Air Corps, which like the song, carries the name Sentimental Journey. 

The recent Luke Days 2009 Thunder in the Desert Open House and Air Show gave thousands the opportunity to see, touch and walk through this 64-year-old World War II airplane. For many, it really was a sentimental journey. 

The airplane, owned by the Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force, was flown to Luke Sunday from Falcon Field by retired Lt. Col. Jim Kimmel and Air Force Reserve pilot Maj. Pete Scholl, with assistance from Brig. Gen. Kurt Neubauer, 56th Fighter Wing commander. 

Colonel Kimmel retired from the Air Force in 1992, spending his last three years as the 310th Fighter Squadron commander at Luke Air Force Base. Major Scholl spent a dozen years in the Air Force and is presently in the 944th FW attached to the 310th FS. Both men are pilots with Southwest Airlines. Colonel Kimmel is a second-generation B-17 pilot. His father completed 50 missions in World War II in a B-17. 

Sentimental Journey had quite a trip through time before becoming part of the Arizona CAF. 

"It was built too late to see combat in Europe," Colonel Kimmel said. "This aircraft was assigned to the Pacific theater for the duration of the war and ended up being stored in Japan until 1947. It was removed from storage and assigned to Clark Field, Manila, Philippines, as a photo-mapping airplane for nearly three years. 

"Sentimental Journey spent the 1950s as a sea-rescue aircraft, and as part of Operation Greenhouse, the fourth postwar nuclear weapon test series. It served as the mother ship for this nuclear testing. Unmanned, radio controlled B-17 drone aircraft were being used to measure blast and thermal effects to collect radioactive cloud samples. The mother ship, already airborne, would take control of the drone and fly it to the target area." 

This venerable aircraft's military days ended Jan. 27, 1959. It was transferred to military storage at Davis-Monthan AFB, but a new life of service awaited Sentimental Journey. 

It was acquired by the Aero Union Corporation, Chico, Calif., and for 18 years flew more than a 1,000 sorties dropping fire retardant on forest fires, Colonel Kimmel said. 

Jan. 14, 1978, is the day Sentimental Journey made its home in Arizona. It was donated to the Arizona wing of CAF. The aircraft was in excellent condition, but it was not authentic. It was missing four operational turrets, operational bomb bay doors, navigator and radio operator stations, Norden bomb sights and machine guns. The B-17 was grounded in December 1981 to undertake the restoration, according to Colonel Kimmel. 

This classic aircraft goes on barnstorming tours for six months, visiting an average of 60 cities in the United States and Canada. 

Sentimental Journey has lived up to the reputation of the B-17. 

"It is designed like a steel truss bridge," Colonel Kimmel said. "It would take a major explosion to break up this aircraft." 

Major Scholl said the B-17 is fun to fly for a number of reasons. 

"It gives me the perspective of what the World War II flyers could do," he said. "These airplanes weren't pressurized, and I can imagine how cold and uncomfortable it was for the pilots and the crew, but they overcame these obstacles and completed their mission. I feel privileged to fly this aircraft around the country." 

Both men expressed identical sentiments about why they are involved with the Arizona wing of CAF. 

"We do this for the love of our heritage by bringing history and honor to World War II veterans. They need to be appreciated for what they went through." 

General Neubauer expressed a myriad of feelings and emotions about his experience on the B-17. 

"It was an awesome, breathtaking experience and gave me an opportunity to hear the sounds of the engines, smell the exhaust and connect with these brave warriors from the past," he said. "To know that those men gave the devotion and courage to defeat the axis powers and the evil they represented left me speechless. 

"During 1943-1944, bomber crews had a 71 percent chance of being killed, wounded or missing, which was higher than for the infantry.The magnitude of the courage of these people is something I'll never forget, and I'm grateful for it. I want our generation, as well as future generations, to understand the mettle they come from and that the service we have devoted our lives to was built by tough, visionary and devoted people. That's the stock we are from, and we need to live up to it." 

Never thought my heart could be so yearning
Why did I decide to roam?
Gotta take that Sentimental Journey,
Sentimental Journey home.