Once upon a time, there almost wasn't a B-17. Conceived in the 1930s, the design for a four-engine long-range bomber was controversial. There were charges it was too expensive; the very idea of its intended role was challenged. When a prototype was lost in a crash because the crew had forgotten to remove gust locks from the controls, there were those who said the plane was just too complicated for mere humans to operate safely. (Sound familiar?) The program went forward.

The "Fort" proved invaluable when the U.S. entered World War II. Eventually, thousands of Flying Fortresses would be built, operating in both the European and Pacific theaters. One of the best books written about the B-17 is Flying Fortress by Edward Jablonski. The detailed history of the plane and the photos recount what it accomplished in the hands of the Greatest Generation. Of that mighty flock, what remains today?

According to the Experimental Aircraft Association, based in Oshkosh, Wis., 12,731 B-17s were built and about 50 remain. Shuttleworth [a pilot with the Liberty Foundation] said the Liberty Belle was one of only 14 remaining flight-worthy airframes. “Several others exist but they’ve been demolished beyond the point of usefulness,” he said. “Of those 14, only eight or nine are flying in the United States and they’re not flying much more than once or twice a year.”

Liberty Belle was flying a regular schedule of air show appearances and offering people a chance to fly in a genuine B-17. By all accounts every effort was made to operate the program safely; no one was hurt in the forced landing. The aircraft could probably have been saved if fire equipment had been able to reach it. So the question people may have is, why was an increasingly rare and irreplaceable aircraft being put at risk?

On the face of it, it seems crazy. We're talking about operating an airplane decades past the time when the original designers (Thank you Boeing!) expected them to be flying. Parts are hard to come by, and it's expensive to operate those big radial engines and keep that airframe airworthy. So why do it?

It's a kind of crazy that makes a lot of sense to certain people. Most Americans will never visit the battlefields of World War II, save for trips to Pearl Harbor. The Greatest Generation is nearly gone; there are few left to tell the stories. The history is largely disappearing from popular culture (save for a recurring fascination with Nazis in action films and adventure games.)

Liberty Belle was a piece of living history, one that could come to any town with an airport large enough. Suddenly children (and their parents) who had only vague ideas of what the war was about could see, hear, and touch one of the vital machines of that war, see it operate. What's that worth?

Aircraft safely encased in a museum are one thing. Displays, videos, all the myriad ways of trying to get information across can do a good job, but... Actually seeing history in operation adds so much more to the experience. (Plus, museums are dying for funding these days. Getting out in the field to raise money is almost essential.)

I've climbed through several B-17s (and 2 B-24s). I've seen them in flight. You can't appreciate how fragile and crude these instruments of war seem to modern eyes. You begin to understand the sacrifices thousands of Americans made to take these machines to war, to fight and sometimes die in them. You begin to get a dim view of the larger struggle and what it cost.

Most Americans are disconnected from war these days; only a handful serve in the military, and the rest may not even know any serving troops or be aware of their families. We're used to high-tech tools that make battlefields seem like a video game. We seldom get the kind of in the trenches reporting that used to happen before the days of 'embedding' journalists for carefully controlled access to the troops.

Once you've heard the sound of a B-17 flying overhead, you'll never mistake those big radial engines for anything else in the air. Liberty Belle will be missed; thousands who saw her and those who actually flew in her are feeling a loss today as they get the news. You can go to the Liberty Belle web site to pass on your condolences and offers of support.

Everyone has heard of the Smithsonian's excellent aviation displays in D.C. and there's the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space museum in NYC. One perhaps less well known but no less impressive is the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Ohio. And if you're going to be in the south of England, make an effort to get to Duxford and the American Air Museum. (Apologies, as I know I've omitted many fine museums and other displays.)

If there's an air show or aviation museum near where you're going to be this summer, why not make plans? There's no telling how much longer those old warbirds will be around, let alone flying. See (and hear) them while you can. Liberty Belle may be gone, but her mission continues.

Ave atque vale silver lady. You will be missed.