B-17 bomber's visit stirs memories for former pilot

Walking around the B-17 bomber, Gene Fowler was 23 again, looking up to inspect the wings, stooped over to look at the tires, hand up to feel under the engines, along the airplane body, propellers and windows.

But instead of an airfield in Deenethorpe, England, Fowler, 87, of Phoenix, was at Deer Valley Airport, reunited with an old friend.

During World War II, Fowler served in the Army Air Forces as an aircraft commander of B-17s. He flew 33 missions before the war ended. Fowler came home, married, moved to Phoenix and didn't pilot another plane for more than 60 years. While he can't pilot the restored bomber, the Aluminum Overcast, Fowler can walk around and take a ride on the Flying Fortress, which is at the north Phoenix airport through Dec. 7 as part of a national tour.

What do you remember about the B-17?

The first time I saw this I thought it was the biggest damn thing I'd seen, and back then it was. This used to be called the big-assed bird.

As I remember we were coming back from Leipzig, (Germany) and the plane got a little hurt. We lost our oxygen and had to drop low. We were limping along pretty good, barely staying flyable. I could see the water from the English Channel and the Air Sea Rescue (boat) following us. We had to get over the Cliffs of Dover and they were higher than we could fly. I had to drop it nice and easy in the water. That plane was not made to land in the water. The boat pulled up, we stepped up on the boat and I didn't even get my feet wet. What were your missions like?

The best description I ever heard of a mission is that it was hours of boredom with seconds of sheer terror. Our missions were to bomb oil refineries, aircraft factories, ball bearing factories, experimental stations. We had 600 to 900 planes fly over to Germany, dropping bombs then flying back to England. The missions were four to 11 hours long.

What do you remember about flying?

It was cold. You can't imagine how cold. Forty, 50 or 60 below zero was common. You can't get enough clothes on to keep warm, but you can sweat. The reason you girls didn't have nylons is they were making gloves so we could touch the cold metal in the plane.

Gene Fowler reminisces while walking around Aluminum Overcast, a restored B-17 bomber at the Deer Valley Airport.