Boeing B-17G Aluminum Overcast at Santa Barbara
April 17-20, 2006

The Experimental Aircraft Association's Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Aluminum Overcast arrived at the Santa Barbara Airport on Monday, April 17, 2006. On Tuesday and Wednesday Aluminum Overcast carried aviation enthusiasts aloft on nostalgia flights.

Aluminum Overcast was built by the Vega division of Lockheed. Its construction number is 8649. It served the Army Air Force as 44-85740. It was used for training in the United States.

After World War II, Aluminum Overcast was sold as scrap to Metal Products Incorporated of Amarillo, Texas on June 17, 1947. Universal Aviation Incorporated of Tulsa, Oklahoma bought it on July 10, 1947 and registered it as NL5017N. Charles Winters of Miami, Florida bought it on August 2, 1947 and sold it to Vero Beach Export and Import Company on August 16, 1947. Aero Services Corporation of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania acquired it on June 27, 1949 and registered it as N5017N. Chris Stolzfus and Associates of Coatesville, Pennsylvania bought it on August 10, 1962 and sold it to Dothan Aviation Corporation of Dothan, Alabama in December 1966. William Harrison of Tulsa, Oklahoma bought it on February 20, 1978. The Experimental Aircraft Association acquired it in August 1980.

Gregg Weitzman's North American T-28A Trojan, N81643 joined Aluminum Overcast on the Goleta tanker station flightline. N81643 served the Air Force as 49-1643. Its construction number is 159-155. Norman B. Dennis Jr. of Brookneal, California registered it as N9674C in 1966. Robert Eggmann of Belleville, Illinois registered it as N28RE in 1978. Edward A. Buerckholtz of Chesterfield, Missouri registered it as N81643 in 1985. It has been registered to Round Power Limited of Reno, Nevada since March 4, 2004. Its owner, Gregg Weitzman, recently had it restored in the colors of a T-28A that was flown by the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in the 1950s. It is based at the Santa Barbara Airport.

T-28A Trojan, N81643 is restored in the colors of a Trojan operated by the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in the 1950s. It is based at the Santa Barbara Airport. Its construction number is 159-155, and it served the Air Force as 49-1643. It has previously been registered as N9674C and N28RE.

On Thursday Aluminum Overcast departed for Riverside.

The propeller blade tips created spiral clouds in the humid morning air.

Link to the Experimental Aircraft Association's Aluminum Overcast web site.

More B-17 Flying Fortress Photos

Boeing B-17G Flying Fortresses were used to fight fires unitl the 1980s. Subsequently, the tankers were restored to stock configuration. The restored Flying Fortresses tour the country, taking aviation enthusiasts aloft on nostalgia flights.