She sat in a dank, dirty hangar about ten miles from me for the past twenty years Bob (Ft Worth)

The owner 'Doc' was bound to a wheel chair and it rarely flew due to maintenance needs late in his life.
The wing spar AD that all B-17's had to go through took forever to complete. (Huge job)

Doc wouldn't let anyone else fly as PIC and when it did fly he flew it right up until just before he passed away. (Wheel chair and all)
Doc bought the B-17 many years ago surplus and it was his to do what he wanted. 'Chuckie' is Doc's widow, which he named the plane after, and she sold it for an undisclosed sum as they had agreed to after he. 'Chuckie' Hosper is one of the nicest ladies I met in my years of being around warbirds and I'm happy everything worked out how they planned it.

A few years ago when they got her into the air again they attended an annual fly-in we had every year at LNC just south of Dallas. The last time I saw her fly.

It took me a minute to find these on my old hard drive -





The young lady 'bombardier' was all smiles as they prepared to taxi away for their short hop back to Meacham Field in Ft Worth


This was the last time I saw her fly as she passed over heading back to FTW


I'm happy Chuckie has found a new home with funding and dedicated crew to take care of her.
You better take good care of her Bob! I did my part for the past 15 years!