Former B17 pilots get to ride in Flying Fortress again

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BY JOE DUGGAN / Lincoln Journal Star

Thunder dropped out of a blue Lincoln sky Monday afternoon.

Bill Schock watched the B-17G bomber — its silver body reflecting the sun, its four propellers cutting the air — and he asks a question to no one in particular.

“A beautiful airplane, isn’t it?”

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World War II veteran Bill Schock smiles as he stands behind the co-pilot's seat during a ride over Lincoln Monday afternoon in a WW II-era B-17 bomber operated by the Experimental Aircraft Association. (Eric Gregory)

Anyone can admire the classic lines of a B-17, but Schock’s feelings about the plane go much deeper. About every guy who ever flew a B-17 in World War II will say the aircraft got them through combat they never should have survived.

On Monday, the 89-year-old Falls City man was one of two veterans who got to fly again in a B-17. The Experimental Aircraft Association, which owns the plane, took them up on flights intended to promote the B-17’s visit to Lincoln.

Dick Miller, 88, of Lincoln, was the other veteran. Like Schock, Miller was stationed in England as part of the 8th Air Force and flew bomber missions over Germany.

“I never brought one back with fewer than seven holes in it,” Miller said Monday.

On March 15, 1945, during his 13th mission, the plane sustained severe damage from antiaircraft fire and was limping along on 1½ engines when he knew they wouldn’t make it back. But Miller said he was able to belly the plane into a field without losing any of his nine crew members.

By April 1, they had made it to a Russian air base in Poland, where they were flown back to England. Miller, a retired architect who still holds a private pilot’s license, said he hadn’t flown in a B-17 since 1946.

A few minutes later, the plane had taken off with Miller in a seat of honor behind the co-pilot. Watching from the ground, his wife, Kaye, said her husband rarely talks about his war experiences.

“This is pretty exciting for him,” she said.

About 20 minutes later, as he stepped back onto the tarmac at Silverhawk Aviation, he wore a big smile.

He didn’t recognize the instrument panel, he said. But the tight quarters, the noise and the view from the cockpit brought back lots of memories.

“It was a perfect flight.”

Schock and his 35-year-old grandson, Jason, joined eight media representatives for the second flight. A crew member gave them a safety briefing before they climbed aboard.

“The only fun I ever had on a B-17 was when we buzzed Falls City for a half hour the day before we flew overseas,” he said.

Outside, the plane may be beautiful to look at, but inside, it’s bare bones function — narrow walkways, nylon mesh seats, no pressurization and lots of Army-green paint. A pair of .50-caliber machine guns point out the B-17’s waist as a reminder of the plane’s former purpose.

The four, 1,200-horsepower engines roared, and the plane generated a tremendous racket when it lifted off the ground. As the Flying Fortress gained altitude, the volume dropped a little and a cooling breeze flowed through the plane.

Schock stood behind the co-pilot’s seat, a seat he occupied on many of his 25 missions. He absorbed every second of the flight, which ended too soon.

“It was real fun to be in the airplane again, especially when they weren’t shooting at you,” he said.

He walked around the plane to the nose and showed his grandson the hatch he parachuted from 64 years ago as flames engulfed his B-17 over Germany.

It was all that needed to be said. The grandson knew his grandfather spent the following 13 months in a German prison camp.

He survived it all and spent his life publishing his hometown newspaper. Monday’s flight was his second in a B-17 since the war; the first took place about five years ago.

As time puts distance between him and the war, he said, it hardly seems possible he did what he did.

As it turns out, the days of disbelief haven’t ended.

“I can’t believe that 63 years later, I’m riding in one.”

Reach Joe Duggan at 473-7239 or jduggan@journalstar.com.