B-17 Bomber Makes Tulsa Visit After All

The Commemorative Air Force's B-17 Flying Fortress "Texas Raiders" was originally scheduled to arrive in Tulsa on Friday, September 5.

Monday, September 8th 2014, 9:39 am

By: Richard Clark

A B-17 bomber made it to Tulsa after all.

The Commemorative Air Force's B-17 Flying Fortress "Texas Raiders" was originally scheduled to arrive in Tulsa on Friday, September 5, 2014 but a maintenance problem forced the airplane back to its home base in south Texas.

The World War II-era heavy bomber arrived over Tulsa at about 1:15 p.m. Monday, September 8, 2014. It made two circles over downtown and then landed at Jones Riverside Airport where it was available for tours and even rides.

It was originally scheduled to be in Tulsa for three days but was only able to spend Monday afternoon here because of other commitments. Tulsa is the first stop on an 8-city tour lasting through the end of October.

See the tour schedule.

Kevin Michels, a member of the group who deals with the media, says the Commemorative Air Force knows how much the Tulsa area loves historic airplanes so the group worked hard to get the plane back in the air for a visit, even if it was only for one afternoon.

This particular B-17 is a G model and was built in July of 1945. It's called the "Texas Raiders" and was almost completely disassembled during a restoration which lasted from 2002 to 2009.