The Painted Lady

About the Book

My name is Painted Lady. I am a B17F flying fortress, straight from the factory in Seattle.
My life started on an assembly line with impact wrenches, screwdrivers, drilling, and soldering.
Most of the people working on me were women.
All the eligible men were going into the military.
Oh, there were some men around but not a lot. I remember one day they were putting my nose section on.
After, my wings, fuselage, and landing gear were intact.
Then I got my chance to fly. It was just around the airfield, but what a feeling. Then I sat there waiting for something to happen.
On a bright sun shining day, several of us B17s were lined up, and two women climbed on board and did pre-flight.
Then we took off and went to Saint Louis, then on to Dover Delaware, where I was gassed up and looked over, the same two ladies got on board again and we took off for where I don’t know. But this starts my story.
Sit back and journey with me through my trials and tribulations as we embark on my adventure.

About the Author

The author was brought up in upstate New York near Griffiss Air Force Base. As a child, he went to air shows frequently and got acquainted with several World War II veterans who flew the B17s during the war. The author was intrigued with the aircraft and felt right at home in all the positions. The author felt like he had been in these aircraft before during a different time. It was no wonder that he choose a career in the military, his desire to serve his country and go around the world made him realize how important it is to be an American. The author was stationed in Kitzingen, Germany during the seventies and felt like he had been there before a long time ago. While touring the city of Kitzingen, he happened upon a monument in the middle of the square. In English, it was written, “Here is the spot where a school stood during the war, but was bombed by allied aircraft at a tremendous loose of live to school children who were in the school at the time of the raid.” The author is retired now and writes freelance because he loves the thought of giving back some of his experiences of life. Although this is a fictional book, it relates to how the author feels about his own vehicles and the vehicles he was entrusted with during his stint in the military.