Volunteers Work to Restore WWII B-17 Bomber to the Skies

From Gas Station Landmark to Restoration Project

For decades, a B-17 Flying Fortress known as the Lacey Lady sat perched above a gas station in Milwaukie, Oregon. It was an unlikely landmark, bought by local businessman Art Lacey on a $5 bet after World War II.

He flew the bomber from Altus, Oklahoma, to Oregon in 1947, then turned it into the canopy of his gas station. Everyone in town knew where it was, but few could imagine it would ever fly again.

Moving to Salem and Beginning the Work

When time and weather took their toll, Lacey’s family and the newly formed B-17 Alliance Foundation made the decision to save the aircraft. Terry Scott, the foundation’s executive director and Lacey’s granddaughter-in-law, led the effort to move the bomber to Salem Municipal Airport. Since then, volunteers have been gathering on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays to slowly bring the aircraft back to life.

A Labor of Love

The restoration has been underway for more than a decade. Piece by piece, volunteers disassemble and rebuild the aircraft, carefully documenting hundreds of thousands of parts to ensure nothing is lost. For many, the work is deeply personal. “This is fun. This is not work; this is just fun,” volunteer David Hevel said.

Others, like Joe Elmore, are motivated by family history: his cousin was a B-17 waist gunner who was shot down and captured before managing to escape a German POW camp.

Honoring the Greatest Generation

During the war, B-17 crews faced harrowing odds. Bombers were often shot down before completing 25 missions, and many never came home. Volunteers see restoring the Lacey Lady as a way to honor that sacrifice. “There’s nothing else out there that can really exemplify a generation like this plane,” Scott explained.

The team hopes to see the bomber in the air within the next decade—though they admit it may take longer. Regardless of the timeline, the Lacey Lady has already fulfilled its mission: uniting generations in remembrance and preserving one of history’s most iconic aircraft.