THE INSIDE LOOP
COL. MORGAN AND THE MEMPHIS BELLE
By Jay Smith, Executive Editor | jays@modelaircraft.org
COL. ROBERT MORGAN was the pilot of the famed Memphis Belle from November 7, 1942, to May 17, 1943. He received his bomber flight training at MacDill Field (now MacDill Air Force Base), in 1942 as part of the 29th Bomb Group, 52nd Bomb Squadron. Interestingly, the actual Memphis Belle would also be stationed at MacDill in 1943 after it was flown across the country on a national war bond tour.
The B-17 Memphis Belle was used for pilot training at MacDill, and it is said that it nearly collided on the ground while practicing night landings. Fortunately, the aircraft survived and has been completely restored and put on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
I grew up not too far from MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida; however, that was long after Col. Morgan or the Memphis Belle were stationed there. The base invited Col. Morgan to attend an airshow there and I went specifically to meet him.
He was nice and friendly and signed my copy of The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle, which he authored, as well as a patch from his unit. At the time, he was seeking support to raise a B-29 that he flew later in the war from the depths of the sea. To my knowledge, his B-29 has not been recovered.
Col. Morgan passed away in 2004. In 1990, a movie titled Memphis Belle was released and it is worth watching. If all of this history interests you in building a B-17, look no further than this issue for a construction article by Pat Tritle on a 60-inch wingspan version. Pat even did his as the Memphis Belle!
