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B-17 FLYING FORTRESS MAKES CONROE HOME

The Commemorative Air Force Gulf Coast Wing was officially welcomed to the City of Conroe today as a ribbon cutting hosted by the Conroe/Lake Conroe Chamber of Commerce. Led by Chamber President Brian Bondy, the ceremony was attended by several WWII Veterans as well as the Stephan C. Brown CAF President/CEO and the Gulf Coast Wing of Houston, which operates the iconic bomber.
The CAF B-17 Flying Fortress Texas Raiders has moved to General Aviation Services on the north side of Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport, where it is maintained and operated by the CAF Gulf Coast Wing, a group of volunteer members who use the aircraft as an educational tool to honor and remember those who served our country during World War II.
CAF Gulf Coast Wing Leader Wayne Kennedy was pleased to welcome 97-year-old, Curtis Blair and Bill Turley of Spring, Texas and R.B. Kelley of Montgomery, Texas. During World War II Blair was a B-17 flight engineer instructor, and Kelley and Turley were both ball turret gunners who served overseas during the war.
By the end of World War II the United States and Allies had deployed the largest air armada the world had ever seen, and 12,731 B-17 aircraft had joined those forces in combat. Today only nine B-17 bombers still fly. Texas Raiders was one of the last B-17’s ever built, as it was completed in July of 1945. The CAF Gulf Coast Wing members tour across the country with the iconic aircraft giving the public can opportunity to experience history up-close by touring through and flying in the aircraft. Texas Raiders performs regularly in air shows, civic events and flyovers throughout the U.S. and in the Houston area.

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