Sun July 20, 2019 in Souix City, Iowa The Collings Foundation's B-17g "Nine-O-Nine" named after the original WW2 909 that holds the record for completing 140 successful bombing missions without any loss of crew life. After the end of the war, the original "Nine-O-Nine" was flown back to the states (along with thousands of other bombers) to be recycled (they were mostly made of aluminum). Another B-17g (one of the last to be built in one of the many airplane factories) was too late to see any action in the war. The Air Force used it as part of an atomic bomb test in the Mojave Desert; to see how the radiation would affect it. Afterward, it had to sit there in the desert for a few years in what was described as a "cooling off period" until it was no longer radioactive. After it was safe, it was purchased by the California government to be refited with tanks; so it could carry water or chemicals to fight forest fires in southern California. It was designated as number "99". After several years of service, it was retired and used for parts. It sat in the desert (again) for a while (unknown how long) and was eventually purchased by Robert Collings of The.Collings Foundation; where it would be restored to it's WW2 factory condition and repainted to look like the original "Nine-O-Nine" and it became part of their "Freedom Tour" that flew around the country every year; which gave people an opportunity to see a real WW2 Flying Fortress bomber (along with other WW2 planes that they had bought and restored) to teach the younger generations about the role they played as part of The Army Air Corps aka The Air Force during the war and help to keep the memory of the men who fought and died in service to our country. It also gave the veterans a chance to see one of the planes they had spent so much time in again. Collings also offered 20 min rides (for $400 per person) to have a chance to experience flying in a genuine Flying Fortress. I remember how excited I was to see "Nine-O-Nine" for the first time in the summer of 2017 when it was at Epply Airfeild, just north of Omaha, Nebraska. it was so cool being able to walk inside of it. i had another chance to see 909 in July of 2019 in Souix City, Iowa (This is the second day) and the best part was that I got to share the experience with my son Joel. Two and a half months later... "Nine-O-Nine" crashed on Oct 2, 2019 at bradley International Airport in Windser Hights, CT. There was 13 people aboard that morning; sadly 7 of them died. My heart goes out to their family and friends. R.I.P.