A Memphis Belle story...

I finally got around to having my prized Memphis Belle photograph framed. It was taken in 1943 on the day she left England for the last time. It's special to me because it's signed by Capt. Bob Morgan (the pilot) and I bought it directly from his wife Linda (probably along with a couple of hundred others). As I hung it on the wall I was reminded of an incident which occurred when the Belle was still on display at Mudd Island, Tennessee. My wife and I were in a group listening to a short presentation about the Belle from one of the folks working on the restoration. Several times during the presentation the presenter referred to the Belle as a B-17G. Finally, about the fifth time he did that, a lady in the front raised her hand and said "Excuse me, but that's a B17F, not a "G"". The presenter told the lady he had worked a couple of hundred hours on the restoration and assured her it was, indeed, a model "G". To which the lady replied, "Well, I have a couple of hundred hours FLYING that type of airplane and I can assure YOU that it's a model "F." She then revealed that during WWII she was one of the many female civilian ferry pilots delivering airplanes from the factories to military bases and departure points. And, of course, she was right...the Belle is indeed a model "F".