My Gal Sal

B-17E 41-9032  Ultimate Sacrifice Memorial, Blue Ash Airport, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Under restoration for eventual static display.
Crashed on the ice.
Crashed on the ice in Greenland.
Bomb bay section.
The bomb bay is the largest section remaining.
Some of the larger parts in storage.
Some of the larger pieces in storage at Tillamook.
     On 27 June 1942, My Gal Sal was lost in Greenland while on a ferry flight from the U.S. to England. The pilot made an excellent landing, the only damage to the plane being bent propeller blades.  The crew  were rescued by a PBY Catalina that landed on a lake 25 miles away. It took the rescuers hours to reach the airplane and its crew. After a night of rest, the rescuers led the 13 survivors slowly and carefully back to the lake where they boarded the Catalina and took off. The rescued men had been marooned for 10 days. My Gal Sal was forgotten until October 1964 when it was rediscovered from the air. It was in good condition, although the tail had been broken off by the constant movement of ice. In 1965, a winter storm had blown the forward part onto its back, severely damaging it.
    In May-September 1995, Gary Larkins conducted a site survey, disassembled, and recovered My Gal Sal and delivered it to the Tillamook Air Museum. In August 1996, he recovered a B-17F that crashed in 1943 near Ruby, Alaska for use in the restoration of My Gal Sal. The remains of the two planes stayed in storage at Tillamook Air Museum with plans for an eventual restoration to flying status.
    On 14 March 2000 My Gal Sal was purchased by Bob Ready, of Cincinnati, who will restore her for a display siting on her belly as she was in Greenland on June 27, 1942.  Currently the fuselage has made good progress in California.  Read more about it at the Ultimate Sacrifice Memorial web page.

B-17
Homepage
Next 
Plane
Previous
Plane
If you have any comments or have found information on my page that is incorrect, please e-mail me!
If you know of a surviving B-17 that is not on my page, please let me know!

Copyright © 1997-2002 Brian A. Nick.   All rights reserved.