European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse % a x a a by. A y. A z1 a a a it a v % re it a a a7 r Quot a 4 a i he a a -v1 j \ i t a amps photos by Dave Didi oof glory Days the onetime control Tower at Lavenham Airfield is now Only a deserted Hulk looming above the surrounding Suffolk linger a bomber base by Dave Didio staff photographer England. Summer 1944, the Early morning Sun win Kat the treetops As it slips Between Cottony Tutts of Clouds and a warm gentle Breeze Ripples across the Meadow playing tag with the butterflies that hit among the tall Blades of grass. But inside the cockpit of the b-17, it already feels like a Sauna. You just sit. There in the heat engines snorting and growling and popping and you stare at the Trees on the other end of the runway a. A Skinny slab of Concrete that looks a whole lot Shorter than the it s supposed to be. Quot i the tanks Are filled to the brim with 2,7bo Gallons of fuel every drop that the Bird will hold a and you re carrying so Many explosives in the belly of the beast that you re 3 tons Over Takeoff weight. There is a nagging thought that maybe this is the Flay the tired old crate just won t make the ground. And it s obvious from the look on s far e that he s thinking the same thing a 2,7/fo Gallons of fuel a Short runway and All that extra weight. And you just it an t take your eyes off those Trees. Brother you be got the �?o2780 suddenly the Windshield is bathed in a blinding Green Light from the control Tower. The rays Ricochet off your sunglasses and Yunk you bar k to the Tusk at hand. Little beads join Tore is forming a Stream that Trif Kies slowly Down the Cheeks l of beneath Tine in c ups of your headphones. There is no turning Back now. Standing firm on the brakes you wrap your Clammy fingers around the control wheel and shove the throttles to the firewall,.-letting the engines wind up so tightly that they sound like every nut and Bolt is going to try right Oil them. A. The bomber shimmies and strains to break free and when the brakes Are tin Illy released. Instead of lure lung ahead the tiling just sort of a Udd los Down the runway like a fat pregnant Duck. You re going to have to wish this dung into the air. No s Gonna make it on . It takes it i Good half mile just to get the toil up Cun Tinute a on Page 4 u May to 1091 Stripe Magazine
