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Our World
War II B-17G Bomber was originally flown to Oregon by Art Lacey. From 1947 until
its closing, the "Flying Fortress" you see in Milwaukie, OR. sheltered one of the nation's largest filling
stations.
Currently, there are approximately eleven intact examples of B-17s world wide. After 50 years of
weathering Oregon's climate, birds and suffering from wanton vandalism, Milwaukie's Bomber is being restored!
This is a long term project that will lead
to the education of generations to come about the World War II era.
The memorabilia displayed in the
family restaurant are reminders of a history, not to be forgotten. The Bomber family is dedicated to the
preservation of this "flying Fortress" christened the "Lacey Lady". She stands in honor
of the men and woman who fought so valiantly during WWII to save our freedom. |
| Type of Plane |
|
B-17G "Flying Fortress" WWII |
|
| Origin of Plane |
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Altus Air Force Base Oklahoma Lockheed Vega Plant-Los Angeles, CA 1944 |
|
| Purchase Price |
|
$13,750 (FOB Oklahoma with 26 hours flying time) |
|
| Original Price |
|
Paid by U.S. $350,000 |
|
| Stops to Portland |
|
Two; Palm Springs and Klamath Falls |
|
| Armament |
|
Thirteen, 50 caliber machine guns |
|
| Service Ceiling |
|
35,000 feet |
|
| Landed |
|
Troutdale Airport, Troutdale Oregon |
|
| Oklahoma to Oregon |
|
Very easy |
|
| Troutdale to Milwaukie |
|
Very difficult (It took 4 trucks to
move the disassembled plane to Milwaukie.) |
|
| Weight |
|
36,134 pounds (empty) |
|
| Wing Span |
|
103 feet, 9.38 inches |
|
| Top Speed |
|
302 m.p.h. |
|
| Engines |
|
4 Wright Cyclone radials rated at 1200 H.P. each |
|
| Cruising Speed |
|
160 m.p.h. |
|
| Maximum Range |
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3,750 miles |
|
| Official Name |
|
"Lacey Lady" Christened on March 23, 1996 |
| A total of 12,731 flying Fortresses
were produced in the period 1935-1945, of this total Boeing built 6,981: Douglas Aircraft 3,000: Vega
(Lockheed), 2,700. Approximately 4,750 B-17's were lost during combat missions. |
| An Incredible Journey Brought The Bomber to Milwaukie, Oregon |
|
The Bomber is more than an advertising
gimmick. "It's almost like a fairy tale story," maintains Milwaukie's Art Lacey, who owned and
operated the 40-pump McLoughlin Boulevard gas station housed beneath the awesome WWII-vintage B-17G
four-engine Bomber.
While Lacey's retired war bird is a familiar landmark in Milwaukie, Oregon,
few realize the incredible chain of events that actually landed it there. As a young flier and gasoline
station owner, he had a vision of a novel combination of both. His subsequent quest for a retired war
plane took him to the U.S. Air Force’s Altus Air Base in Oklahoma. The stranger from Oregon told them he
wanted to buy the plane to be used as an advertising gimmick back home. Put it up over his gas station,
he said. They questioned his sanity but sold it to him.
All of the planes had been in storage for
two years. Art rounded up a crew of local farmhands to help him prepare the bird for flight. "We got
it un-pickled and got the thing running." Lacey remembered during a discussion at his home, located
right behind the looming silver bird and gas station. Despite his inexperience behind the controls, Lacey
was determined to fly the war plane. Base regulations, however, required a co-pilot on every flight. So
one of his helpers snuck him an old mannequin. Lacey stuck it on the seat beside him, plopped a cap on
its head and took off for a test run. "I was scared as hell", he admits in retrospect, "and
that's no lie!" That practice flight was nearly Lacey's last. It ended up in what Air Force officials
have termed "a spectacular wheels-up crash landing."
Considering Lacey's entire bomber
saga, it was just par for the course.
"I got her flying," Lacey told the Review,"
and then I couldn't get its landing gear to go down." He remembers talking to and even slapping the
lifeless mannequin on the knee during those tense airborne moments. "I was talking to everything
trying to get that gear down-I even had the 'old man upstairs' involved in that one." The Milwaukian
crash-landed the stubborn bird on its belly, crashing into a parked bomber in the process. He never even
received so mush as a scratch. "They wrote both those planes off as wind damage." Lacey said
of the aircraft he unintentionally destroyed.
Lacey said he lives by proverb. "You stick and
stay and make it pay." The same day of the crackup, he and the farmboys started depickling another
plane-tail number 485790. It is roosted in the sky beside old Highway 99E today.
Two of Lacey's
friends, pilots from Portland, joined the determined man for what turned out to be its perilous flight to
faraway Oregon.
"Before we left, I took my parachute and put it in a box and nailed it shut,
I'd ride her all the way to the ground if something happened. I was broke, all my money was in that
plane." (He bought the bomber for $13,750.)
They refueled in Palm Springs and then headed for
Klamath Falls "I followed the Sierra Nevada's until we hit a blinding snowstorm", he remembers,
"the other guys were asleep. I kept dropping in altitude, trying to get below the storm. I was flying
her by the seat of my pants." He just missed crashing the plane broadside into a mountain, by
inches.
Lacey's eyebrows jump up as he recalls the action in the cockpit when he realized he was
swinging the plane into the face of a mountain. "I threw the throttles against the pegs, the
manifold pressure flew out the bottom, the mercury dropped and we climbed for the sky!"
He
and his crew had no idea of where they were. During a break in the clouds, they finally spotted a tiny
town.
"We buzzed that little town pretty closely," Lacey shrugs. People are running out
of their houses in nightgowns. They were afraid we were going to land on Main Street. But we were just
trying to read the road signs."
After some frightening sweeps, they spotted a building with
Fall River Mills painted on its top. They located it on their map and found they were almost 100 miles
off their course.
"You know, that's the damnedest airplane," Lacey teased, gesturing
towards old number 485790 perched outside his house." We picked up a railroad track and I said,
"Well, hell, lets follow it all the way to Klamath Falls under the storm-I'll ride in the nose
and if I see a tunnel coming up I'll bang you on the toe!"
Somehow, flying level with the
treetops, they made it to Klamath Falls where the weather had cleared, gassed up and took off again.
Halfway to Bend, they encountered another bad snow storm. When we couldn't pilot the shaking plane any
higher over the storm, he dropped below it. "I took her all the way home at 800 feet," he
proudly claims.
Over Monmouth, Lacey made two swoops above a relative's house to let his family
know he and the B-17 were okay. They landed at Troutdale Airport.
Just getting the plane across
town to Milwaukie almost proved to be a tougher chore than flying it cross-country. The authorities
weren't going to let Lacey do it.
"The flight went clear through the State Highway Department
to then Governor Snell. I never did get a permit. I finally just loaded it up on our four trucks and
moved it anyway."
His only penalty for the illegal early Saturday morning haul (2:AM) was
a $10 fine in Milwaukie for an over wide load. "It was an enormous load. We took up the whole
road." Lacey admitted. "We came upon a bus on Powell and he had to run up on the curb so we
could get by."
And so the story goes…Today. Art Lacey's dream has come true. It stands as
a symbol of the courage of the men and women who served so valiantly during WWII and as a salute to the
era of the propeller driven airplanes. |
| The Bomber, A Family Tradition,
Owned and Operated Since 1947 |
|
It all started here. Art & Birdines
Wedding date: July 4th 1936. Descendants of Oregon pioneers-founders of the Bomber, Milwaukie Oregon's
World-famous landmark.
The Bomber Crew: The incredible success of the Bomber Gas Station was
due largely to the commitment of Art Lacey and his family to provide a superior service to their
customers. Cars would be lined up several blocks down the road to "fill er' up". This
station was the largest volume single unit station in the United States during the 1960's. Art away,
Coke Floats, ladies were dressed in sailor type uniforms, they would even hire bands to come in and
entertain to a theme, when was the last time you saw that while filling up your car? One time they
all dressed up in hula skirts and leis then did a stage dance while their customers filled er' up!
The bottom line was hard work, a great attitude, full service and entertainment. The committed staff
had a famous photo under the Bomber. This photo not only brought them fame but other business's world
wide have used it to get their point across. The bomber is now copyrighted, merchandise for sale,
using "The bomber" is permitted by permission only from the Bomber family. |
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| Art Lacey, The Man Behind The Bomber |
|
A legend for history. Art grew up in
Parker and Wilamina Oregon. He was raised by his Grandparents on a farm. Their means for income was logging,
his Grandmother and Art would provide meals to threshing crews of 20 in the Logging camp. There he learned
to cook Classic American food with Hearty portions. The
Bomber Restaurant opened in 1948. Art Lacey's flair for preparing great food has influenced
today's restaurant menu. We are still serving the same wonderful hand prepared chicken fried steaks, and
homestyle meals at The Bomber. The traditions have carried through to our
Catering business as well, with personalized
service and meals that will keep your guests talking about your great event for months.
Art Lacey
was an engineer for the Corp of Army Engineers during the war. He had several personal planes, which were
the families mode of transportation, including; a P51 Mustang, AT6 and a Kinner.
Art has been generous
to his community. Raised many who just needed a place to plant themselves and offered assistance where he
could for a community project. He was one of the first members of The Clackamas County Chamber of Commerce.
Once he ran for county commissioner, but was quoted as saying he spoke his mind to much, he missed being
voted in by 700 votes.
Art spent his entire life working to provide for his family. He still lives at
85 years old, born in 1913, and frequents the restaurant daily for short periods of time. The family keeps
him busy shopping for supplies and investigating all the days best bargains. He has been known to sing a 3
string guitar in the restaurant to a loudly off key song of Happy Birthday. He loves children and always
showers them with candy and ice cream or a huge mound of whipped cream. Those who know him are quite aware
of his colorful nature. He is a man of a different generation, who can bring a smile to just about anyone,
has a huge heart and has been more than generous throughout his life. He donated the top turret to the
Arizona wing of the confederate airforce, the sentimental journey. Some of the machine guns, the ball turret
and many other items have been donated, we don't even know the whereabouts of many parts. His generosity
has left us looking for these parts so that we can continue the
restoration of this Flying Fortress,
our "Lacey Lady".
On July 4th, every year we close the restaurant and throw
an old fashioned 4th of July extravaganza, complete with clowns, marching bands, corn on the
cob, Coins in the Hay, and a large cake celebrating Art & Birdine Lacey's Wedding Anniversary. A perfect
anniversary date for this patriotic family. |
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