A Newtown Man’s A Long-Held Dream Takes Wing On A B-17

By Shannon Hicks

When he was younger, Richard Krikorian toyed with the idea of getting his pilot’s license.

Now the Newtown resident is going back in time. The retiree not only has a pilot’s license — and an avionics license — but he is using it to be a crew member on a Boeing B-17 currently making its way toward New England.

The Sandy Hook resident left town on August 8, flying out to Oshkosh, Wis., to join the crew of Aluminum Overcast, a World War II Boeing B-17 that is on a national tour. Mr Krikorian will be with the plane when it makes its stop in Connecticut next week, visiting Waterbury-Oxford Airport for public visits Tuesday and Wednesday, August 19 and 20.

Mr Krikorian is a member of Experimental Aircraft Association, an organization whose members have a wide range of aviation interests and backgrounds. EAA has chapters across the country, including Chapter 1443, based in Oxford. Mr Krikorian was already a member of 1443 when the association’s 2007 tour visited the municipal airport. For that tour Mr Krikorian helped people board and get off the lane, and he hung out with the mechanics whenever he was not busy helping the public.

The Sandy Hook resident said he has been interested in aviation for as long as he could remember. He even tried to take flying lessons while in serving in the Army during the mid 1960s, “but I got sick every time. I just couldn’t do it,” he admitted. He was also young, having just married wife Lydia in February 1968 and then two children arriving shortly thereafter.

“We really couldn’t afford it at that time,” he said, so that dream was put on hold for a few decades. After a career with the phone company ended in retirement a few years ago Mr Krikorian revisited his dream of flying and earned that long-wished-for private pilot’s license. He also earned an airframe and powerplant certificate, which means he can work mechanics on many planes.

The limitations of that certificate were discovered during EAA’s 2007 visit to Oxford Airport, however. When a problem involving the flaps on the plane was being discussed during that stop, Mr Krikorian’s offered to help, but was politely rebuffed.

“I wasn’t licensed to do anything to that plane,” he said recently, “but when I told the guys I wanted to get more involved, they gave me the name of the head guy, John Hopkins, to get in touch with for training.”

Mr Krikorian did contact Mr Hopkins, EAA’s manager of aircraft maintenance, and eventually got into the training program that is specific to the group’s B-17s. In March of this year he flew to Oshkosh to go through that training program. Successfully finishing that meant Mr Krikorian could now work on EAA’s planes.

Aluminum Overcast

EAA’s national B-17 tours have taken place each spring and fall since 1994. Since EAA began the tours of the aircraft known as “The Flying Fortress,” tens of thousands of people have experienced this unique airplane through its visits and aircraft ground tours.

Thousands of aviation enthusiasts have actually flown in the renowned bomber, which is considered one of the greatest military airplanes ever built and one of the best-known aircraft types of the World War II era.

“The national tour EAA undertakes each year has become the nation’s most popular way to learn about this unique aircraft in an up-close way,” Tom Poberezny, EAA’s president, said in a press release. “EAA is dedicated to preserving the spirit of aviation through these B-17 tours. This year, we also take great pride in saluting all our nation’s veterans as the airplane makes its way throughout our country.

EAA’s Aluminum Overcast was built in 1945, but was delivered to the Army Air Corps too late to see active service in World War II. It was purchased as war surplus for $750 by a private individual, and served in mapping and spraying operations in many countries until a preservation group purchased it in 1978.

The B-17 was then donated to the EAA Foundation in 1981 with the provision of the aircraft being maintained in airworthy condition. After being displayed at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh for a decade, the airplane made its national tour debut in the spring of 1994. EAA now fully owns the aircraft and operates the national tour that will return to Oxford next week.

Members of the EAA Warbirds of America who are experienced in World War II airplane operations are flying the airplane, which is painted in the colors of the 398th Bomb Group. The 389th flew hundreds of missions of Nazi-held territory. Aluminum Overcast commemorates B-17G #42-102515, which was shot down on its 34th combat mission over Le Manior, France, on August 13, 1944.

Veterans of the 389th helped finance the bomber’s restoration. When the plane was sold in 1946, most of its original military equipment had been removed. Over the years, however, many of those items have been located, restored, and returned to Aluminum Overcast, including the Norden bombsight in the nose of the plane, the waist guns located on each side of the bomber, a complete tail turret assembly, and a replica top turret just behind the pilot and co-pilot seats.

In addition, the navigator’s position, located in the nose of the airplane, was restored; the radio compartment, including its original communications equipment, was rebuilt; and the airplane’s floor was returned to its original specifications.

This year’s tour began in June with a four-day visit to Denver, Colo., and continued steadily through July 28, when Aluminum Overcast returned to Oshkosh for the annual AirVenture show, which ran until August 3 and saw between 60,000 and 80,000 attendees.

Then the plane, along with its current crew, departed for the next leg of its summer tour heading first to Harrisburg, Penn.; then Schenectady, N.Y.; and Lawrence, Mass., before heading to Oxford next week.

In all, the plane and its crews will visit more than 30 cities by the time the tour ends in Georgetown, Texas, on November 2.

“It’s a very impressive operation,” Rich Krikorian said recently, just a few days before heading to Wisconsin. “Each crew has two pilots, two mechanics, and two trailers that follow the plane. One trailer is filled with the hats, T-shirts, and information about EAA, and the other is just parts. The plane does break down occasionally, and that’s what they’re there for.”

Last year’s tour had no major problems reported, but during the 2006 tour the crew needed to change a few of the plane’s cylinders.

“You just never know. That’s what we train and prepare for,” said Mr Krikorian, whose current tour began in Oshkosh and includes the Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts visits, and then finish in Oxford. He will also celebrate his birthday while in the air, turning 62 on August 17.

The Oxford Stop

Aluminum Overcast will be at Oxford Airport for public visits, ground tours, and even flights on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 19 and 20. Cameras and camcorders are welcome, and Mr Krikorian will no doubt be thrilled to see anyone from his hometown who can make the drive out to the airport.

The public may take ground tours of the plane each day from 2 to 5 pm. Ground tours are $5 per person, $15 per family (adults/children up to age 17 — immediate family members), $3 per person for high school groups (ten or more), and $1 per person for grade school groups (ten or more). Admission is free for children age 8 and under when accompanied by paying adult, and free to all active military or veterans.

At each stop, flight “missions” are available in the airplane, which allow people to take flights and ground tours in this spectacular aircraft. Public tours for the Oxford stop will be are available August 19 and 20. Flights take place every 45 minutes, and will run from 9:30 am until 12:30 pm.

A minimum of six people is required per flight. If fewer than six people are booked for a flight, EAA will try to reschedule the flight that day or another day during the tour.

Flights are $359 for EAA members and $399 (which includes a one-year EAA membership) for nonmembers who prebook their flights online at B17.org or call toll-free 800-359-6217.

Once the B-17 arrives at each location, advance ticket sale prices are no longer available for that stop. The on-site flight cost for EAA members is $385, and $425 (including a one year EAA membership) for nonmembers. The phone number for on-site bookings is 920-371-2246.

The airplane’s crew is available at each tour stop to answer questions.

Flying in the plane and being a member of its crew, said Mr Krikorian, “is a privilege and an honor.”

The draw for him is the living history lesson being with the plane offers.

“I’m doing this to keep the plane flying for these guys,” he said. “The vets come out and they just light up. You should see it. It’s amazing.”