By Donna Beth Weilenman
Martinez News Gazette

One of the few surviving and flying B-17 bombers that were instrumental in the Allied victory in World War II is now stationed at Hayward Executive Airport, where the public not only can view the plain but also take flights over the Bay Area.
The Liberty Foundation’s “Madras Maiden” arrived Monday, and will be available for both public flights and ground tours Saturday and Sunday, March 25 and 26.
Flights every hour on the hour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and ground tours will be offered from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. those days.
“During the flight, you are actually able to visit the cockpit, glass nose and all crew positions to really get a feel for what this historic aircraft was like during the war,” said Scott Maher, spokesperson for the Liberty Foundation, which is based in Claremore, Okla.
The Madras Maiden is one of 12,732 B-17s of various models built between 1935 and 1945 during World War II, which saw the loss of 4,735 of those planes. This aerial survivor is one of about 12 in the world that is still flying. Nicknamed the “Flying Fortress” because of its tremendous firepower, the B-17s were the most famous bombers of World War II.
Missions often lasted more than eight hours as the planes struck targets deep within enemy territory. While B-24s dropped 452,508 tons of bombs and all other American aircraft dropped 464,544 tons, the B-17s dropped 640,036 tons of ordnance on European targets in daylight raids.
They also downed 23 enemy aircraft per 1,000 raid, compared to 11 by B-24s, 11 by fighters and three by other medium and light bombers. After World War II, some planes were used again in Korea, by Israel in the war of 1948 and again in the Vietnam War.
This is the first tour for which the Madras Maiden has been available to the public for flight experiences.
A B-17G, the final model produced in the largest number, 8,680, the Madras Maiden was built by Lockheed-Vega and was accepted by the United States Army Air Force in Burbank Oct. 17, 1944._ It was assigned to the Flight Test Branch at wright Field, then modified as a “Pathfinder” aircraft, equipped with the H2X “Mickey” radar system that was placed where the ball turret normally would be underneath the plane.
A plane that spent its entire military career, from 1944 to 1959 as a research and development aircraft, the Madras Maiden is the only surviving B-17 that was converted to be a Pathfinder.
During its military service, the plane was assigned in 1945 to Clinton Army Air Field, in Ohio, as an all-weather research aircraft, then went next year to Minneapolis, Minn., to participate in a Honeywell Cor. Research project.
It returned to Clinton Field in 1948, and the next year, it was modified to participate in another long-term test program.
Back at Wright Air Development Center in Ohio in 1951, it participated in an Air Material Command test program in Westchester, N.Y., in 1952.
Converted again for research purposes in 1956, it was assigned to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey in 1957, and finally was sent to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona to join the 3040th Aircraft Storage Squadron. Two months later, it was dropped from the military inventory and designated a surplus aircraft.
The American Compressed Steel Corp. in Cincinnati, Ohio, bought the plane Aug. 18, 1959, for $5,026, and the plane was renumbered from its military designation 44-8543 to the civil register number N3701G. It was sold in 1960 to Aero Associates, which put a cargo door on its right waist.
Sold again Feb. 6, 1961, to Albany Building Corp. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., it became a cargo transport, delivering Caribbean fresh produce to South Florida.
Dothan Aviation in Dothan, Ala., bought the plane in 1963 and converted it for spraying fire ants under a federal Department of Agriculture contract.
The plane was sold again in 1979 to Dr. William Hospers of Fort Worth, Texas. He and his band of volunteers slowly restored the airplane to its original combat configuration. By Oct. 7, 2010, the plane was sold to Training Services, Inc., of Virginia Beach, Va., where after some additional minor restoration, it began flying in air shows.
Sold again in 2013 to the Erickson Collection aviation museum in Madras., Ore., the plane was painted in the colors of the 381st Bomb Group and was named “Madras Maiden,” after the nose art painting added to the color scheme.
That bomber group, part of the Eighth Air Force based in Bassingbourn, England, participated in more than 297 missions during World War II, dropping more than 22,000 tons of bombs and destroying 223 enemy aircraft.
In 2016, the plane was leased to the Liberty Foundation, founded by Don Brooks in honor of his father and those who served in the 381st Bomb Group. That organization also owns another B-17, the Liberty Belle, which is undergoing a major restoration and rebuild after being heavily damaged by fire in 2011 that forced an emergency landing in Illinois.
In keeping with the B-17s’ reputation for being able to return from battle despite taking heavy damage, all aboard the aircraft were able to escape without injury.
The Liberty Foundation flies the B-17 in honor of veterans and to educate current and future generations about the price of freedom and America’s aviation heritage.
The Madras Maiden will be at Hayward Executive Airport (APP Jet Center FBO, 2189 Skywest Drive, Hayward, for public visits Saturday and Sunday, March 25 and 26.
Flights are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every hour on the hour, and those reserving flights should arrive an hour before departure. Nine seats are available each flight on a first come-first served basis.
Ground tours are available from 2:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. those days.
Those interested in flights may reserve space by calling the Liberty Foundation, 918-340-0243. Cost of the flight is $450 per person, and the Foundation accepts cash, checks and credit cards. Its website is www.libertyfoundation.org., where information about the Foundation and memberships can be found.

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