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We drove up to Horsehead, NY to the National Warplane Museum (now called Wings of Eagles Discovery Center) on
August 29th, 1999 to take our 30-minute ride on the B-17 Fuddy Duddy.
My dad was a great history buff and always loved anything that made the past more alive. So, when he heard about the
opportunity to take a ride in a B-17, he jumped at the chance. It was a bit of a challange considering he was suffering from
cancer. This ended up being the last time he left the house. He died 12 days later on September 10th, 1999. I remember
this day vividly and am very glad we were able to share this experience before he passed away.
This B-17 was restored to honor the original “Fuddy Duddy,” a B-17G
assigned to the 8th Air Force, 447th Bomb Group, 708th Bomb Squadron. The original plane was lost in a mid-air collision
over Mannheim Germany on December 30, 1944.
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We drove out to the Lancaster, PA airport on August 28th, 2004
to meet up with the Collins Foundation's Wings of Freedom tour for our 30-minute ride on the B-24 The Dragon and His Tail.
My wife surprised me with a certificate of flight for a fathers' day present.
I was very excited to take another ride on a World War II bomber. I called my uncle and asked him to join me on the ride.
He eagerly agreed to join me because his uncle, my great uncle, Joseph Altemus was a navigator on the B-24 named Snow
White. Joe was stationed in Italy and assigned to the 15th Air Force, 98th Bomb Group, 343rd Bomb Squadron. His plane
was shot down over Regensburg, Germany on February 22, 1944 shortly after it dropped its bombs. Ray Noury, the radio man,
was the only survivor who was eventually captured and held in Stalag Luft 3.
This B-24 was restored to honor the original "The Dragon and His Tail", a B-24J
that flew 85 missions in the Pacific with the 5th Air Force, 43rd Bomb Group, 64th Bomb Squadron. It was the last B-24 to
be scrapped.
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